


Just Trying To Survive

by Jld71



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Attempted Murder, Bottom Jensen Ackles, Childbirth, Established Relationship, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder, Surrogacy, Top Jared Padalecki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 18:14:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16539638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jld71/pseuds/Jld71
Summary: Jensen and Jared Padalecki have everything they could possibly want; a loving marriage, their dream jobs and a fantastic home. There was only one thing missing in their lives, a child. They attempted to adopt, only to be rejected. They’ve turned to their last hope, a surrogate. Things don’t turn out the way they’ve hoped. Can what Jensen and Jared built together survive?





	1. Their Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the movie: When The Bough Breaks.  
> Written for the 2018 SPN_Cinema Challenge.  
> Beta: gatorgurl94/gigis89.

Just Trying To Survive

 

Jared would like to tell everyone that the outcome was worth what they had gone through, but that would be a lie. In the process to have a child with his husband, he had nearly lost everything, the love of his life, his marriage, his job, their child and his sanity.

 

They thought they had been doing the right thing. They had gone through all the required screenings; they had met all health and mental requirements, passed all the hurdles. The only thing stopping them, was finding the right surrogate. That had been easier said than done. Jensen had tried to remain upbeat about the two year search, but his disappointment and depression were beginning to show through the cracks he normally covered up so well. Jensen hid the hurt and pain well when others asked. But Jared saw though Jensen’s fasade. The only thing Jared could do was hold his husband when the tears came and reassure Jensen of his love. “You’re enough for me, Jensen. Never doubt that. If things don’t work out, if we don’t have a child, I’m alright with that. I have you and your love. That’s all I need.” Jared could see through the smiles and the “I’m fine, things are fine,” and the harder answer, “If it’s meant to be, then we’ll have a child,” when they were questioned. Jensen was the strongest person he knew. That was why it hurt him so much when he couldn’t give Jensen what he longed for, a child.

 

They had met in college and it had been love at first sight for Jared. He’d walked into the little bakery, _Piro’s_ , Jensen had been working at to order cookies for a party he was going to that night. He had been assigned a dessert to bring and had opted for ordering a baked good, rather than possibly giving those attending food poisoning. He couldn’t cook for shit and baking, well, that was a whole other world of misery. He mother had tried to teach him, bless her heart, but the lessons always resulted in a mess in the kitchen and something being burnt beyond recognition - usually the food, the oven mittens and whatever he had been using to cook the charred item in. He did try, but it just never ended well. After the last failed attempt, his mother had just shooed him from the smoke filled kitchen.

 

“Jared, I love you, but it’s clear to me and everyone else in a ten block radius that you can’t cook. I just hope that the man you marry can cook. Because if he can’t, you’re going to starve to death,” his mother had managed to get out through her laughter.

 

“Mom!” He had huffed out at her, trying to show his indignation and failing. But, it had been the truth, they both knew it. He was barely surviving on microwavable meals. How he managed to not set the microwave ablaze was still a mystery to him. But, he suspected that his parents had gifted him with one that was industrial grade and impervious to the likes of his cooking skills, or lack thereof.  

 

“Can I help you?” A male voice called to him, cutting through Jared’s memory of his last cooking experience. He looked up to see gorgeous green eyes looking at him from behind the counter containing the display of baked goods. He had to swallow several times to get his tongue to work and give himself a moment before he just blurted out that yeah, the guy could help him out by letting Jared kiss him until his full lips were swollen and red.

 

“Ah, yeah. I need to get some cookies for a party.” Jared stepped closer to the counter and the man. Please be gay and available ran through his mind as the man smiled at him. He noticed the man’s pale skin had a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks. He wondered if the freckles graced the rest of the man’s body. He really wanted to find out. The man’s whiskey smooth voice speaking to him pulled Jared from his sinful thought. _God, please don’t let me be blushing_ , he silently prayed.  

 

“Well, we’ve got cookies,” the man laughed and waved a hand over the display.

 

“Thank God, because I can’t cook, let alone bake.” He gave a shudder at that admission. Why was he even telling this stranger his faults? The man laughed and all Jared could do was focus in on his exposed neck and how much he wanted to nip at the soft looking skin. The guy must have noticed his stare because he went quiet, waiting for Jared to give him his order. Someone, with an older, gruff male voice, called from the back of the bakery cutting through the awkwardness. Jared looked away from the man, but not before taking in his athletic build. It didn’t appear that the man was much shorter than Jared himself. He had to admit that he liked the idea of possibly dating someone nearly the same height as himself. But, he was getting ahead of himself. He didn’t even know the guy’s name, or if he was gay, or available. But, he couldn’t stop himself from hoping.

 

“Jensen, tray’s up.”

 

Jensen turned to acknowledge whoever was speaking. “Be there in a minute, I’m with a customer.” Jensen smiled at Jared. “So, about those cookies?” He asked and tilted his head, waiting for Jared to answer him.

 

“Jensen, that’s not a very common name. I’m Jared, by the way,” he offered with a dimpled smile. He watched as Jensen bit his bottom lip before speaking to him. God, he really wanted to kiss those lips, nip at the bottom one . . . kiss Jensen’s neck. Was the rest of that pale skin covered in freckles as well? Again with the thought of finding out how freckled this man’s skin was? Yeah, he was having sinful thoughts about a stranger standing before him, Jared was pretty sure he was going to hell.

 

“Yeah, my parents wanted something original. So Jensen . . .” Jensen blushed as he let his words trail off.

 

“It suits you.” Jared responded before he realized what he was saying. Apparently his mind and his mouth were no longer working in sync. “This party is probably going to be boring, but if you’re not doing anything . . .” His words were cut off as the commotion of the swinging door separating the front of the bakery from the back swung open, and an older, balding man carrying a tray of freshly baked scones appeared.

 

“He’s not doing anything, trust me. What time should he be ready?” The man asked as he slid the tray into the empty display area. The man smiled as he ignored Jensen’s dismayed protests. “Please take him out on a date. He’s either here or at school. You’d be doing me a favor and I’ll throw in a dozen of whatever else you want for free. But you have to take him on the date first.” A smile split the older man’s face as he looked at Jared. “Jim Beaver, owner of this little slice of sugary heaven and Jensen’s boss,” he said.

 

“Jim,” Jensen breathed out. Jared saw the look Jensen shot the older man, it was one that clearly stated that he was going to kill Jim after Jared left.   

 

“What?” Jim turned to look at Jensen with a bemused smirk on his face. “You were just lamenting on the lack of good looking and interesting men to get to know around here. One shows up and you’re not going to jump him?” He coughed out a chuckle as Jensen turned bright red. “Excuse me, I mean, jump at the chance to get to know him? The guy’s asking you out on a date, go!” Jim shook his head at Jensen, watching Jensen sputter before he finally was able to come up with a comeback to his well-meaning teasing.

 

“I hate you and I quit,” Jensen shot back at the older man.

 

“No you don’t, one either account.” Jim turned back to Jared, and winked at him before he disappeared into the back, leaving Jensen and Jared to stare at each other. “He loves me and he’ll be going out with you to this party.” Jim called from the back.

 

Jensen and Jared stared at the swinging door until it finally stopped moving. Jensen was the one who finally broke the silence. “So, the cookies. How many do you want to order and when do you need them?” He asked, grabbing his order pad.     

 

“Three dozen for tonight. Can you just make it a mixture of what you have? I’ll come back at six when you close to pick them up.”

 

“Sure,” Jensen said as he wrote up the order and walked over to the cash register to ring up Jared’s purchase.

 

As Jared handed him the money as he spoke. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.” He turned to leave, but was stopped as Jensen called to him.

 

“Jared, this party . . . is it casual, jeans and a t-shirt okay or do I need to get dressed up?” Jensen questioned, uncertainty lacing his voice.

 

Jared turned back to Jensen and saw the faint smile on his lips. “No, jeans and a t-shirt are fine. I’ll see you at six?”

 

“Yeah, six. I’ll be here, with the cookies.” Jensen gave him a shy smile before turning to walk into the back.

 

Jared was pretty sure he had just met the man he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He had heard of love at first sight, but hadn’t believed in it until now. Jared turned and walked out, a wide smile plastered on his face. He laughed as he heard Jensen’s voice calling to Jim, threatening him with bodily harm and telling him how he was going to bake him into a pie.

 

That night, Jared had shown up at six, just as Jensen and Jim were closing up for the day. They still had an hour and a half before the party started and Jared offered to buy Jensen a cup of coffee. “This way, we can see if we can even stand each other’s company,” he reasoned with Jensen as they sat at a table for two.

 

They discovered that night that they had a lot in common. Both had moved from Texas to California for college. Jensen was originally from Dallas while Jared hailed from San Antonio and were both only children. They both loved sports and rooted for the Cowboys.

 

Jared was in his last year of law school and was about to get ready to take the Bar exam. He had been working as a law clerk for a law firm part-time while going to school. Once he passed the Bar and had his license, he had a full-time position with the same law firm waiting for him.

 

Jensen had graduated with a business degree, but his passion had always been cooking. He was working at the bakery and also taking culinary classes three days a week. He was set to graduate at the end of May, which was only three months away.

 

They had gone to the party and had stayed for a few hours. Jensen met several of Jared’s friends and fellow law students and had enjoyed himself, even if he felt a little out of place. By the end of the night, Jensen had been happy he’d met Jared and had taken a chance on joining him at the party. Never mind that Jim had practically thrown them together. Jared, had been so taken with Jensen that before the date had even ended he’d been planning the next one in his mind. In reality, he was planning the next several, he just hoped Jensen was on board.

 

The next day, Jared showed up at the bakery, much to Jensen’s surprise and delight and a little trepidation. They had exchanged cell phone numbers, but he hadn’t really been sure if Jared had been into him. When his phone hadn’t rung that day, he was a little disappointed, but not surprised. While he had liked Jared and his friends, he didn’t see how he could possibly fit into Jared’s world. He was training to be a chef, not working in the corporate world, which he had guessed was a black mark against him. Surely Jared wanted to date someone who he would be able to introduce proudly to his law colleagues; someone who was on the same career path as Jared was. Jensen just wasn’t that person.

 

Jared entered the bakery, standing in the small line and watched as Jensen waited patiently on the few customers ahead of him. He rocked nervously back and forth on the balls of his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets hoping that would stop them from shaking. He had enjoyed Jensen’s company and thought they had hit it off. He had called and left a message for Jensen. But when he hadn’t heard back, that was when he decided to head back over to the bakery. If Jensen didn’t want to go out with him again, he could accept that, he just wouldn’t accept Jensen not telling him, either by phone or in person. He knew it had been less than twenty-four hours since they had met and gone out, but he wasn’t willing to let things end so quickly.

 

Jensen eyed Jared as the previous customer left. “Jared.” Jensen said quietly, then looked away. He seemed to turn in on himself, but forced himself to be professional. “What can I get you for your free dozen that Jim offered you yesterday?” He had seen Jared enter the bakery and had nearly run into the back to trade places with Jim. He was sure Jared was here only to get his promised free baked goods and to tell him that there was really nothing to pursue between the two of them. But, he had forced himself to stand his ground. It would hurt to hear this from Jared, even if they had only known each other for less than a day, but it was better to get the hurt over with and move on.

 

“You didn’t return my call,” Jared responded simply. “I thought we had a good time last night. Was I wrong?”

 

“I didn’t get a call from you,” Jensen responded. He pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Damn cell service is crap here.” He held up his phone, showing that he had no service. He chuckled when he saw the relieved look on Jared’s face. He flashed Jared a shy smile. “So you tried to call me?”  

 

“So, are you free after work? I happen to have a dozen baked goods and I can’t eat them all by myself.” He smiled at seeing Jensen blush. “Well, I could, but where’s the fun in that? I’d rather share them with you, unless . . .”

 

“No.” Jensen saw the look of hurt cross Jared’s features and stepped forward. “I mean no, I’m not busy and yes, I’d like to share them with you.” From that moment on, they had never been apart for more than a day. Jared had been right, it had been love at first sight for him, even if it hadn’t been quite as instantaneous for Jensen. When he had asked Jensen when Jensen had fallen in love with him, Jensen had told him it was somewhere between the lame this party is going to be boring and the order of three dozen cookies. Okay, he might not have been as smooth as he had hoped, but he still ended up with the man of his dreams, one who could cook and bake. Jensen was all he could have hoped for, and more.

 

When Jensen graduated culinary school, Jared was sitting in the front row, cheering his boyfriend on. He noted how sexy Jensen looked in his black pants and chef jacket. Jensen’s parents hadn’t been able to make the trip. While Jensen had wished his parents could be there, he understood that they worked and lived in a different state. They had been there for him when he had graduated with his business degree and were proud to now have a son with two degrees who they had supported and encouraged to follow his dreams. Jared had more than made up for his parents’ absence.

 

After Jensen had received his diploma and medal as one of the school’s top rising stars, Jared had taken him out for a quiet night of celebration for just the two of them. Jared had wanted the night to be special. He didn’t have much in the way of money, but with Jim’s help he had been able to secure a table for two at a small restaurant with great food. Jim knew the owner and had put in a good word for Jared, making it more affordable on his part-time salary. Since this was a graduation present for a newly graduated chef, the owner had worked with Jared. Jared had been able to create a menu just for Jensen that night; making it an intimate and memorable night.

 

When Jared had graduated law school, Jensen had sat with Jared’s parents and cheered with them as he walked across the stage to accept his diploma. The night had been filled with a celebratory dinner hosted by his parents at a restaurant that Jensen had been working as a chef at the time. Jensen had returned the favor by creating a menu for their meal that consisted of Jared’s favorite foods - some that the restaurant didn’t carry. Jared’s parents had been thrilled to meet his boyfriend and welcomed him with open arms into their family. Jared’s mother had made the comment that she no longer needed to worry about Jared starving to death since his boyfriend obviously knew his way around a kitchen and could actually boil water without managing to light the kitchen on fire, which Jared had actually done one night. Jensen had laughed at that and asked, to Jared’s horror and embarrassment, to hear more of his failed attempts in the kitchen. His mother had felt the need to oblige Jensen. By the time the night had ended, he was sure he had turned a shade of red that no one had ever seen. Jensen could barely breathe from laughing so hard. Jensen had even complained about the fact that his cheeks hurt from smiling. It served him right as far as Jared was concerned.

 

When Jared received word that he had passed his Bar exam, he proposed to Jensen. Jensen had come home from the end of a long shift at the restaurant he had been working for to find Jared waiting up for him.

 

“Jared, you’re still up,” Jensen had uttered as he walked into the bedroom of the tiny apartment they were living in. Usually Jared was asleep at this time of night. Jensen usually worked until the restaurant closed at twelve and then stayed to clean up the kitchen with the rest of the staff. Tonight they had run late and it was after two in the morning when he had finally made his way home.

 

“Waiting for you,” Jared said as he pushed back the covers and stood up. He didn’t care that he was wearing a pair of sleep pants or a worn t-shirt. He didn’t care that Jensen was still wearing his chef’s outfit or that he smelled of food and sweat. He got down on one knee in front of a wide-eyed Jensen and took Jensen’s left hand in his.

 

“Jared, what are you doing?” Jensen had asked in a whisper, biting his bottom lip as his nerves began to ramp up.

 

“I love you, Jensen Ackles. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

 

“Yes! Yes. I’ll marry you.” The words rushed out of Jensen so fast that his head had spun, making him feel dizzy. The next thing he knew, Jared had pulled him down and they had ended up on the floor, wrapped up in each other’s limbs, kissing until they were out of oxygen.

 

A year later they were married. Jared had been offered a job with a prestigious law firm and was on track to make partner in a few years if everything went well. Jensen, with Jared’s backing, had quit his job to open his own catering business. Their lives were everything that they had hoped for. <


	2. Heartache and Prospects

They had fallen in love with their home the minute they’d stepped foot through the door. Jared had known it was perfect before he’d even called the realtor. He’d seen pictures online, placed the called and had picked Jensen up and held his breath as they pulled up to the sprawling two-story Tudor style home. He waited, watching as Jensen made his way into the kitchen. It wasn’t until Jensen clasped his hands together and uttered “It’s perfect,” did Jared let out the breath he’d been holding. As he looked back on that day, Jared still wondered how he hadn’t passed out from lack of oxygen. 

 

The house and large fenced in backyard were beautiful, just what Jensen had been hoping for when Jared pulled the car into the two car driveway with attached garage. Jensen had walked around wide-eyed as they were shown the living room, dining room, office, home gym and four bedrooms. But, it was the kitchen that had sold him on the house. It was his dream kitchen. It was spacious and had all the latest, state of the art appliances and as a chef, it had been everything he had dared to hope for. The only thing he remembered after seeing the kitchen was pressing himself up against Jared and the wall and kissing his husband senseless. It wasn’t until  their realtor tactfully cleared her throat did he remember that they didn’t own the house yet and it wasn’t theirs to christen. But, once they had the keys in hand, they had christened every room in their house. Jensen had to admit, he really enjoyed making the house theirs. Of course, afterward, he had cleaned the house, top to bottom, at least twice. But, those memories would always be with him - should they ever sell their dream home.

 

Now, their four bedroom home felt too big. The emptiness felt like it was crushing him as Jared stood only a few feet away from Jensen, but it felt like Jensen was miles away from him. Jared remained silent as he watched his husband. He could see his shoulders shaking and heard the quiet sob and gasp for breath. How many times did they have to go through the disappointment of being rejected by a surrogate because they were a same sex couple? Couldn’t these women see how much love his husband had to give to a child? How could they not see how much love they had as a couple, how they wanted a child so desperately that it hurt? It was a physical ache, one he didn’t know how to stop or even begin to heal. He just never understood how these women, who knew they were a same sex couple, could change their minds after meeting with them. “Babe,” Jared said quietly as he stood in the doorway. His arms ached to hold his husband, but he knew when Jensen was like this, it was best to let him deal with things on his own. He watched as Jensen wiped away the tears and turned to him, a smile on his face. It was obvious Jensen was trying to cover up the pain he was in by putting on a brave front. 

 

“Must be something in my eye,” Jensen said as he crossed the room to kiss Jared, still wiping at his eyes. He placed a hand over Jared’s heart and then gently pushed his giant of a husband out of the doorway so he could close the door to the nursery. 

 

They had decorated it for a baby they had thought they were going to adopt, only to be rejected because, again, of the whole gay couple aspect. Everything had been worked out for the adoption, only for the woman to rejected them in favor of another couple right before she was due to give birth. It was like a stigma attached to them. The woman they were dealing with at the adoption agency had told them they would have had a better chance of adopting if either of them had been single. Just what the fuck? Jared had stood up, told the woman that she and the rules could to go to hell. Jensen would be a wonderful father, they both would be fantastic parents. Any child would be lucky to have two parents who wanted said child as badly as they did. That was when they had made the decision to look into surrogacy. 

 

Now, the nursery stood empty, like a hole in their lives; in their hearts. Jared wasn’t sure of the last time he had actually stepped over the threshold into that room. Maybe he should, just so he could dismantle everything. But, in the end that would only cause Jensen more pain. It would hit home the fact that they didn’t have a child of their own. He couldn’t bear to be the one to cause Jensen pain by doing that, emptying out the room, reminding him that they were childless. He wasn’t sure what to do anymore. Well, that was wrong, he did. He just needed to find the courage to say what he needed to say to Jensen. He drew in a deep breath and let it out in a loud sigh. “Jensen, we need to talk for a moment,” he said as he watched Jensen descend the stairs.

 

“About what?” Jensen called over his shoulder as he made his way into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. He looked up as Jared joined him and offered Jared a cup, which Jared gratefully accepted.

 

Jared took a moment to blow on the hot liquid, trying to gather his thoughts. “I don’t want us to get our hopes up about today’s appointment.” The words were barely out of his mouth when Jensen’s head shot up and he slammed his coffee cup down.

 

“What?” Jensen could feel his muscles twitching in anger. Just what was Jared saying? Didn’t Jared want a child? They had discussed this topic at length. That’s why they were willing to jump through hoop after hoop. They had both been on the same page, up until now. Was Jared now having second thoughts? He opened his mouth to say more, but Jared stopped him.

 

Jared held up a hand, stopping Jensen from the tirad that Jared could see building in Jensen. “Look, we’ve gone through enough of these appointments. We both know how they can go. I just don’t want you getting hurt again, hoping only to have the hope torn away from you, from us.” He placed his cup down on the island and walked over to Jensen, placing his hands on Jensen’s shoulders. He saw the look of anger and hurt clouding Jensen’s normally vibrant green eyes. “I want a child with you. Don’t ever doubt that. I just think that if this doesn’t work out this time, that we should think about things. Maybe take a break from it all.” He placed a kiss on Jensen’s temple. “Just think about it, that’s all I’m asking. I’ll support you, whatever you decide. It just breaks my heart to see you cry when . . . when the answer has been no in the past.” Jared breathed out.

 

“Yeah, I get it,” Jensen said in a strained voice. Logically, he knew that Jared was right. “A break,” he said, shaking his head. “Yeah, maybe a break will do us good if it doesn’t go in our favor.” He hated to admit it, but maybe Jared was right. As much as he had longed for a child, they both had, maybe it was time to accept reality. Maybe they were never meant to have a child. If, after today the answer was no, he silently vowed that he would let his dream of having a child go. Clearly, it would be sign that it was time to let the dream die. He would clean out the nursery and donate everything. At least the furniture, toys and clothing would be put to good use, rather than just gathering dust. He felt a pang of sorrow as he thought it over, but he knew it was the right decision. He couldn’t keep putting them through this.

 

That had happened two hours before they were due to meet at the agency that they had settled on. Jensen had been the one to pick out the  _ New Hope Surrogacy Agency _ . He had liked the name, said he had a good feeling about it. The person they had been dealing with was a nice, older woman who hadn’t judged them. Mrs. Cullen had just welcomed them with open arms and hugs. She was a warm, motherly type and had taken an instant liking to Jensen, even holding his hand while they filled out all the applications, talking him through his panic attack in a soothing voice. She had even cried with him when the rejections of the first two women had been dealt. Jared was thankful that Jensen had someone else to lean on in this process and through the rejections. It helped knowing that they weren’t in this alone. 

 

Now, they were meeting for the third time, and fingers, toes and anything else Jared could think of to cross, this would be the last time. He said a silent prayer as he opened the door and joined Jensen and Mrs. Cullen in the conference room. “Sorry I’m late,” he offered with a tight smile. He hated the fact that Jensen was dealing with this by himself, but he had gotten caught up at work and had been running late. Sometimes the client didn’t care about their lawyer’s personal life.

 

Jensen smiled and kissed Jared on the check. “Doesn’t matter, you’re here now,” he said before turning back to the overhead screen to watch a video of an attractive young woman answering questions on surrogacy, including the possibility of the couple being a same sex couple. 

 

“Why are you doing this, entering into the possibility of being a surrogate?” A male voice asked.

 

“Because I have the opportunity to help a couple have a child, the child they’ve been dreaming of.” The young woman looked into the camera and smiled.

 

“How do you feel about the possibility of the couple who contract though our agency might be a same sex couple? Would that bother you in any way?” The male voice asked.

 

Jared breathed a small sigh of relief at hearing this question. He and Jensen had told the agency after the last rejection that they only wanted to view possible candidates who were open to being a surrogate for a same sex couple. He was done with hoping that upon meeting them, the woman would be open-minded and agree to be their surrogate. Now, he waited to hear what her answer would be.

 

The woman sat up straighter in the chair before answering. “It doesn’t matter what their race or sexual orientation are. Everyone who has the desire, who feels the need to be a parent, should have that dream fulfilled.” The young woman, Jasmine as it turned out her name was, responded. She was in her early twenties and a college student who could use the surrogacy fee to help pay for college. 

 

Jensen grabbed Jared’s hands in his, and turned to meet Jared’s eyes. “She’s the one,” Jensen breathed out. He felt such hope at that moment. It was overwhelming.

 

“Okay, maybe. Jensen . . .” Jared wasn’t entirely sold on the girl in the video. Jasmine was  . . . pretty. But, he wasn’t a really good judge on the opposite sex. She was fair skinned with blue eyes and long brown hair. The coloring of her hair was similar to his and her skin color mirrored that of Jensen’s. If they did choose her, there was no doubt that their child would never be mistaken for anything other than their own biological child. 

 

“I don’t want to spend another two years looking. She’s the one Jared, I can feel it.” He tightened his hand on Jared’s emphasizing his belief. She was the one, he was so sure of it. Clearly, Jared had to see that. How could he not?

 

Jared let out a small sigh. “When can we meet her?” Jared asked Mrs. Cullen and watched as Jensen’s face light up. He knew in that moment he had lost any battle he might have had about wanting to wait, to think things over. He had seen the look in Jensen’s eyes, the hope blossoming and he just couldn’t crush that. He’d rather walk in front of an oncoming semi-truck than snuff out the hope he saw in Jensen’s eyes. 

 

Maybe he should have put up more of a fight that day, had them weigh the pros and cons. He’ll never really know for sure. There will always be that nagging doubt in the back of his mind. He should have done more to protect his husband. But, hindsight was always twenty-twenty . . . 

 

They had met with Jasmine and liked her instantly. Jared couldn’t hide his happiness at that and the fact that she had agreed to be their surrogate. Now, they had to decide which of them would be the donor. Since Jensen was older than him by four years, Jared had insisted that Jensen be the one to father their child. If they went this route again, then it would be Jared to add to their family. It didn’t matter to him which of them donated, he just wanted a child with Jensen. He wanted to make Jensen’s dreams of a family of their own finally come true.

 

Once it was settled that Jasmine would be their surrogate, they met once again in Mrs. Cullen’s office to finalize the paperwork. Jensen and Jared sat huddled together with John Walsh, a lawyer from Jared’s firm, going over all the documents. They had made sure everything was legal and binding; the result ending with Jasmine agreeing to give up all rights to the eggs once they were fertilized and that she would have no claim to their child. They didn’t want to go through a custody battle over the eggs should Jasmine have seconds thoughts. She would be compensated for her donated eggs as well as all medical expenses being covered by Jared and Jensen. When their baby was born, Jasmine would receive the final payment for her services. All payments would be made by Jared and Jensen to the agency; this would ensure a paper trail should Jasmine accuse them of nonpayment.  

 

The agency’s lawyer, Mr. Tonkin, looked over the paperwork with Jasmine and Mrs. Cullen before agreeing to sign on behalf of the agency. Tonkin looked up and over his glasses at Jared and Jensen. “Well, you’re not taking any chances are you with this situation? It’s good to work with someone who’s been so thorough. It makes my job so much easier,” he said with a tired sigh as he leaned back in his chair. Jared’s specialty was corporate law, but he had done his due diligence when it came to researching surrogacy and protecting Jensen, himself and their baby to be. 

 

Jared looked at Walsh, and cleared his throat before answering. “No, we’re not. There have been too many cases where the surrogate has had second thoughts, backed out and had the fertilized eggs destroyed. Or worse, tried to take custody of the baby. I’m not putting us through that. We’ve already been through too much in the past as it is. I want the peace of mind knowing that when we enter into this, there is no misconception of what Ms. Greene’s role is in this situation. She has agreed to donate her eggs and carry our child, but she is not the mother and has no rights to our child.” He took a deep breath and turned his attention to Jasmine. “If you have any doubts about relinquishing your rights, now is the time let us know. Jensen and I can always continue our search for another surrogate.” He felt Jensen’s hand rest on his thigh, giving it a squeeze as if to warn him from scaring Jasmine away. He ignored it in favor of looking pointedly at Jasmine. While it would devastate them both to have Jasmine back out now, he needed to make sure she understood just what her role was and what they expected of her.

 

Jasmine looked at him and smiled. “I’m fine with this arrangement. You’re being more than generous in your compensation. I have no desire to be a mother.” She smiled at Jensen and then grabbed the pen before her on the table. “Where do I sign?” She asked as she held out her hand for the contract. Once her signature was on the dotted line, she slid the papers to Jared.

 

Neither Jared nor Jensen dared to breathe until all signatures were finally on the documents. Jensen was the last to sign. He held the contract in his shaking hand before turning and kissing Jared. Jensen handed the papers to Walsh, stood, walked around the table and met Jasmine as she stood.

 

“Thank you. You don’t know what this means to us. To finally see the light at the end of this very long and dark tunnel.” He hugged Jasmine and kissed her check before letting her go. Jensen met Jared’s eyes. “Do you know what his means? We’re going to be parents. It’s finally happening,” he said with breathless excitement.

 

Jared’s still not quite sure how Jensen talked him into letting Jasmine move in with them. He can only recall green eyes pleading at him. When Jensen had looked at him, with those wide green eyes and had made the request that their now nearly eight month pregnant surrogate move in, he had at first said no. He didn’t like the idea of a stranger moving in with them. He didn’t want to give up their privacy or intimacy. It didn’t matter that Jasmine was carrying their child; that they had been with her in the room when she had been inseminated, or had gone to every prenatal appointment, Lamaze classes and the CPR class and the parenting classes, - the parenting classes were more for the two of them, but Jensen had wanted Jasmine to feel a part of everything that pertained to the pregnancy -, Jensen had signed them all up for. They had even cried together, the three of them, when they found out they were having a little girl. She might be the vessel carrying their child, but she was still a stranger. He wanted what time he had with Jensen to not be interrupted before their child arrived. It may have been selfish, but he hadn’t been ready to share Jensen with anyone else.  

 

The plea had come from Jensen after he had met with Jasmine to go shopping for maternity wear. Jasmine had confided in Jensen that she was having an issue with her roommate. According to Jasmine her roommate was making it difficult for her to rest or study for her classes, even though they were online classes. To Jasmine the online classes were important, which in turn made them important to Jensen. For Jared, he had felt that the issues were between two adults. That Jasmine and her roommate needed to work things out between themselves, and that he and Jensen should stay out of anything having to do with Jasmine’s personal life. But, to Jensen’s credit, and his huge heart, he had worried about Jasmine and their unborn child.  

 

“Please, Jared. This way we can make sure she gets enough rest, eats well and stays healthy. You won’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of it all.” Jensen had pleaded, begged him for a day until he had finally relented. He really could never say no to his husband. And, the thank you blowjob Jensen had gifted him with had been mind-blowing, to say the least. He still shuddered with arousal at the very thought of Jensen down on his knees in their kitchen, sucking him down like he had been starving. So, yeah, he was pretty much a hero at that moment. But now . . . 


	3. Troubled Home

“Jared,” Jasmine purred to him.

 

He looked up from where he had been standing against the kitchen counter going through his and Jensen’s mail. He was a little shocked to see her, he had thought that she was already in bed. His mouth was hanging open; he could feel himself gaping at her. “Is that my shirt . . . and tie you’re wearing?” Because, why the fuck would Jasmine be wearing his clothing? How had she gotten his clothing? Had she gone into his and Jensen’s bedroom? If so, why? Where the hell was Jensen?

 

She looked up at him, all doe-eyed and gave him a lopsided grin. “Yeah, it is. Do you like it . . . on me?” She grabbed the tied, one end in each hand and began to rub it against her neck in a provocative way. She brought her eyes up to meet Jared’s and licked her lips, suggestively.

 

He wasn’t into women, but he knew when someone, male or female, was flirting. “Uh, why?” The only one he would ever let wear his clothes was Jensen and even with Jensen only being a few inches shorter than him, his clothes were still too big on Jensen’s frame. 

 

“Don’t you like what you see? Your child growing in me, wrapped in your shirt?” Jasmine countered back.

 

“Where’s Jensen?” He asked, trying to steer the conversation to a neutral topic. 

 

“Working, like always. He doesn’t seem too interested in taking care of you. Are you sure he’s the right one for you?” Jasmine closed the distance between them, leaned up on her toes and placed a kiss on Jared’s neck. “How come he’s more concerned about his business than being  here to take care of you?”

 

“My husband and my marriage are none of your concern.” He took a few steps back, distancing himself from what was beginning to deepen into a very uncomfortable situation. “I think you’re getting a little confused. You’re carrying our child. There’s nothing between us,” he said as he swiped a hand in the air indicating that he meant he was speaking of them.

 

Jasmine chuckled, it was throaty, verging on sultry as she looked Jared up and down. “Of course there’s nothing between us.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Jared to stare after her in confusion. As she left the kitchen, Jasmine stepped into the shadows of the living room, knowing she wouldn’t be noticed. This wasn’t the first time she had done that, staying hidden, unnoticed as she watched Jared, even if Jensen was with him. She just needed to be close to him in some way.

 

“What the fuck was that?” He asked the empty kitchen. 

 

“What was what?”

 

Jared gave a little startled cry as arms encircled his waist. He pulled away from the arms and spun around to see a shocked Jensen standing there. “Sorry, didn’t hear you come in.”

 

“I can see that,” Jensen said with sly smile on his lips. “So, you gonna answer my question?” He cocked his head to the side and waited for Jared to answer him.

 

“Jasmine, she was wearing my shirt and tie. What the fuck is with that? It’s weird, is all.”

 

Jensen raised an eyebrow at Jared. “So, you’re letting her wear your clothes? Something you need to tell me, Mr. Padalecki?”

 

“I didn’t  _ let _ her wear my clothes,” he growled out and then took a calming breath when he saw the look of concern on Jensen’s face. “Sorry,” he said as he held up his hands. “It’s just, I come home to find her in our kitchen, wearing nothing but my shirt. The only one I want wearing my clothes is you.” 

 

“Do you think we should talk to her about it?” Jensen questioned, biting his bottom lip. “It is a little strange. Do you want me to speak to her? I will if you want me to,” Jensen offered, trying to ease the growing tension he felt coming from his husband. Jensen started for the living room with the intent of of speaking to Jasmine only stopping when Jared call him back. He turned to look at Jared and saw the uncertainty on his husband’s face and raised an eyebrow in response.

 

“No, let it go for now, but if it happens again, we’ll deal with it.” 

 

“Are you sure?” Jensen asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s late and I’m probably making something out of nothing.” Jared went quiet as 

Jensen walked over to him. He was sure he was making too much of things with Jasmine, reading into things that weren’t there, and forced it from his mind. He felt Jensen place a hand on his arm and he smiled at the touch. He felt a jolt of desire curl around his spine. He pulled Jensen into a passionate kiss. “Missed you,” he murmured against Jensen’s lips. “How was your day?”

 

“Good, busy. This catering gig went well and I picked up a few more clients from it.” He kissed Jared then licked his way to Jared’s neck. “I’m awesome, you know.”

 

Jared chucked, resulting in a throaty growl. They had put their lives on hold long enough getting Jasmine settled. Now, he wanted their intimacy back, he wanted his husband. “Yes, Mr. Padalecki, I know. You have demonstrated your awesomeness on more than one occasion. How about we go up to bed and you can demonstrate just how awesome you are by riding my cock?” His words were met with a sloppy and needy kiss from Jensen. He felt heat pooling in his stomach from the kiss and need to claim his husband.

 

“Yeah, I like that plan,” Jensen responded. His voice was rough sounding with lust. He grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him along, out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into their bedroom. Since Jasmine had moved in, they hadn’t been able to find the time to be intimate with each other. The long hours they had both been working hadn’t helped any, either. 

 

Neither realized that after entering their bedroom, when Jared had pushed the door closed, it had never fully closed. The door stood open, a few inches of a gap, allowing prying eyes to look into their private world.

 

Jasmine stood in the shadows of the living room, watching their interaction. Her eyes would have bored into Jared’s back. Had he been aware of her stare, he would have seen the heat and hatred blazing in her eyes. Neither were aware that Jasmine had quietly climbed the stairs and stood outside their partially closed bedroom door to listen and watch as they made love to each other.

 

From the dim light of their room combined with the limited light from the hall, she saw them in the middle of the bed, Jensen was on top of Jared with his hands against their headboard. She watched as Jared reached up and placed his hands on Jensen’s hips, lifting him up and then bringing him back down on his cock. 

 

“God, Jensen you feel so good.” Jared’s lust filled voice carried from the middle of the bed. “Fuck, babe . . . yeah.” Jared uttered as he lifted Jensen off of his thighs.

 

“Jared . . . harder,” Jensen let out a groan of pleasure as he sank down onto Jared’s cock.

 

She watched as they moved together as one on the bed until they were moaning as their orgasms crested at the same time as Jared pulled Jensen down to him and flipped them so that Jensen was laying on his back. She watched as Jared’s hips moved, thrusting into Jensen as Jensen brought his legs up around Jared’s hips, pulling him in closer. She listened as they murmured to each other after their love making had ended.

 

“I love you, Jared.”

 

“I love you, I’ve missed you, Jensen. Missed this, us.” 

 

Hearing those words sparked anger in her. She fought the desire to run in there and pull Jensen away from Jared; to hurt Jensen. Jared was only fooling himself right now, thinking he loved Jensen, that Jensen was right for him. Jared just needed to realize that she was the one he was meant to be with. After all, they were having a child together. Jasmine forced herself away from the door. She backed away and soundlessly returned to her room. She needed to think, she needed to plan what to do next.  

 

Jared rolled off of Jensen and stretched out next to him. He watched as Jensen raised himself up as Jensen slotted himself against his body. He reached up and caressed Jensen’s cheek only to feel him stiffen against his touch.  

 

“Jared, the door. We left it open. Oh my God, you don’t think she heard us?!” Jensen blushed at the thought.

 

“Jensen, even if she had, she’s an adult. I’m sure she’s not a virgin. She knows we’re married. If she makes a comment, we’ll just apologize and assure her that the door will never be left open again.” He pulled Jensen against his chest and kissed him. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.” He pulled up the blanket and tucked it around them before settling comfortably against the mattress. He felt the bed shift as Jensen moved away from him. He cracked an eye open. “What are you doing?”

 

Silently, Jensen padded over to the door and closed it before returning to the bed. He pushed back the covers and reclaimed his place against Jared’s warm body. He felt Jared’s arm around him pulling him in close again. 

 

“Prude,” Jared gave a small laugh and then whispered jokingly against Jensen’s ear as they drifted off to sleep.

 

Jared woke the next morning to find Jensen sitting with his back against the headboard, paper and pen in hand. He rolled over onto his side and looked up at Jensen. “Morning, what are you doing?” He watched as Jensen wrote something on the paper before leaning down to kiss him.

 

“Making a list of names.” Jensen responded to Jared’s question.

 

Jared raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, list of names for what?”

 

“Really? Our daughter,” Jensen huffed out and then smiled at Jared, knowing Jared was just teasing him.

 

Jared reached up and tried to grab the paper from Jensen’s hand so he could look at the list. Jensen moved it out of Jared’s reach. “No, you don’t. I’m not finished.”

 

“How long could the list be? We’re only have the one child!” Jared asked as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and knocked his shoulder against Jensen’s.

 

“It’s not very long, now. I had twenty-five names, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to my top five. I was hoping to get it down to the top three before you woke up.” Jensen bit his bottom lip as he watched Jared’s reaction.

 

Jared smiled and shook his head at Jensen. He knew Jensen was nervous, he always bit his bottom lip when he was unsure of something. “Okay, what are your top five?” He ran a hand down Jensen’s arm, trying to soothe his husband’s nerves.

 

“Jade, Lily, Sophia, Ella and Ava.” 

 

Jared watched Jensen’s face as he listed the names and noticed how Jensen seemed to light up as he said the last name. 

 

“Hmm,” Jared responded at hearing Jensen’s list. “Are these in any particular order of preference?” 

 

“Not really.” Jensen looked down at his list. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Jared didn’t like any of the names. “You don’t like them, do you?” He questioned as he started to cross off the names. He’d just have to make another list, even though his favorite name was already listed.

 

“No, I’m not saying that.” He took the pen from Jensen’s hand, stopping him from crossing anything else out or creating a new list. “What are your top three names?” He wanted to see if Jensen’s face light up again when he said a particular name.

 

“Jade, Ella and Ava.” Jensen nearly whispered the last name. 

 

Jared watched as Jensen’s face light up again as he said the name Ava. “I like the name Jade, but I think it would go better as a middle name. What about, Ava Jade Padalecki,” he said as he turned to look at Jensen. “How does that name sound?” 

 

“Ava Jade Padalecki.” Jensen repeated, and smiled. “Yeah, I love it.” 

 

Jared pulled Jensen to him and kissed him. “Good, we now have a name for our little girl. How about you show me your appreciation?” He didn’t give Jensen a chance to answer. He rolled Jensen onto his back and started working his way down Jensen’s neck and still naked torso, using his lips, teeth and tongue. 

 

Jensen parted his legs giving Jared greater access to his body. He was still slick from their love making the night before and needed little prep before Jared’s hard cock pushed into him. He arched his back off the mattress as Jared bottomed out, Jared’s hips were flush against his ass. He cried out as Jared withdrew only to slam into him. “Jared, God, yes!” He moved his head to the side, as Jared leaned down, blanketing his body, and felt Jared’s teeth against his neck. He rolled his hips up to meet Jared’s thrusts.

 

“Jensen, God, you feel so good around my cock. Gonna come for me, babe?” He pistoned his hips back and forth, thrusting into Jensen hard and fast. He could hear the little gasps of breath coming from Jensen every time he thrust into him. He loved to hear Jensen’s moans of pleasure as he fucked him. He never got tired of it. He could feel Jensen’s body tense with the beginning of his orgasm. He looked down to see that Jensen’s hands were fisted in the sheets. Jensen had his head to one side, eyes closed and his mouth open as he moaned in pleasure. Jared knew it would only be a matter of time before Jensen’s orgasm coursed through his body. He leaned down and nuzzled Jensen’s neck before he bit the soft flesh where Jensen’s neck and shoulder connected.

 

Jensen’s eyes snapped open as Jared bit his neck, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to send him over the edge. He felt his hips buck and his body go taut as he came, spilling over his stomach and chest. 

 

Watching Jensen’s orgasm pushed Jared on. He whipped his hips back and forth, feeling his orgasm hit as he grabbed Jensen by the hips and pulled Jensen onto his cock, filling Jensen with his come. He thrust into Jensen’s body once, twice, three times as they both rode the afterwave of their orgasms. 

 

When they were both able to see, breathe and move, Jared gently pulled out of Jensen and rolled onto his back. He reached out for Jensen, pulling him flush against his body. He ran a hand down Jensen’s back and cupped his ass, giving it a little squeeze. 

 

“Jared, you so have my appreciation,” Jensen breathed out and felt Jared’s chest move with laughter. 

 

“Yeah, then how about making me some coffee?” Jared said with a teasing gleam in his eyes. 

 

“Hmm, maybe when I can stand.” Jensen offered and felt Jared’s finger poking at him. “Alright, I’m getting up!” He tossed Jared a playful glare as he dragged his very pliant body into the bathroom to wash up before getting dressed and leaving their room to make them coffee. He was soon joined by Jared as he poured two mugs of steaming coffee. They sat at the kitchen island, sipping the coffee in happy silence.

 

“Hey, why don’t we head out to the cabin next weekend? We haven’t been there in a few months. We probably won’t want to go after Ava’s born, at least not for a while.” 

 

Jensen gave Jared a sad smile. While he liked the idea, he had just picked up a few more catering jobs; ones he couldn’t put off without losing the income they would garner. Plus, there was the issue of their surrogate. He shook his head. “I can’t. I have back to back catering jobs to prepare for. Plus, we can’t just abandon Jasmine to go to the cabin.”

 

“Cabin?” Jasmine questioned as she entered the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet, poured herself some orange juice and stood a few feet away from them, waiting for an explanation. 

 

“Yeah, Jensen and I own a cabin at Lake Tahoe. It’s where we got married. Bought it a few years ago when the owner put it up for sale.” Jared offered as an explanation. 

 

“Oh, that’s too bad that you don’t have the time to spend with Jared. I mean, you really should make the time. Jared’s a real catch and someone might come along and try to steal him from you.” She offered Jensen a sweet smile. “You don’t have to worry about abandoning me, I can fend for myself. I’m only pregnant, not bedridden.” 

 

Jensen gave her a confused look, and then turned back to Jared. “Wish I could, but I gotta build my business. I can’t lose what clients I have, or the potential ones I’m meeting with.” He pushed himself off the stool and onto his feet. “Speaking of which, I have to meet a client in about two hours. I better get going so I can prepare a taste test for them.” He gave Jared a quick kiss, placed his empty cup in the sink and left Jared and Jasmine to their own thoughts. 

 

“Good luck,” Jared called out, hoping Jensen heard him and knew how proud he was of Jensen taking a chance on starting his own business. When he turned his attention to Jasmine, he saw a dark look on Jasmine’s face.

 

“Something wrong?”

 

“It just, he’s always putting his business before you. Doesn’t it make you angry?”

 

“No, that’s not how it is.” Jared responded, feeling a little put out that he even had to defend Jensen to Jasmine.

 

“Well, he doesn’t seem to feel the need to spend time with you before the baby is born,” she said as she downed the rest of her juice. “If he’s so busy to spend time with you, you could take me to the cabin. I’d love a relaxing few days away from everything.”

 

“Sorry,” Jared offered with a sympathetic smile. “I’ve got to get to work.” Without even bothering with his forgotten coffee, Jared left the kitchen and hurried out of the house, placing as much distance between himself and Jasmine. He didn’t care that it was Saturday and he normally would work from home if Jensen was meeting with a client; he wasn’t comfortable around Jasmine without Jensen there as a buffer. There was something off about her, he thought to himself as he drove to work. She knew he was married to another man, yet she kept making unsettling comments. He needed to talk that over with Jensen. The question was, how to do that? He still wasn’t sure if he wasn’t reading into things, he thought to himself as he walked from the garage to his office building. He waved at a few of the other lawyers as he made his way to his office, still mulling over what to do, how to talk to Jensen about what was bothering him.  Before he could get any further in his thoughts, one of the senior law partners popped his head in to request Jared’s help on a case. He focused his attention on the case in front of him, forgetting what had troubled him about Jasmine. 

 


	4. Struggling At Work

Once the house was empty, Jasmine set about going through Jensen and Jared’s personal lives. She wanted to know as much about them as possible. She wanted to know what made Jared tick, how to get under his skin so he would look at her the way he looked at Jensen. 

 

The best place to start was their bedroom. She pushed open the door and felt the flare of anger as she looked at the bed. She should be laying there with Jared, not Jensen. She forced herself not to rip apart the bed. She had been in their room the other day to snag one of Jared’s shirts, hoping he would enjoy seeing her in it. That tactic hadn’t worked. Now, she was back in the room, trying to find anything she could use against Jensen and to find a way make Jared see that she was the one he should be with. She riffled through their nightstands and dressers without finding anything before moving on to their closet. As she pushed aside some clothing, she discovered a wall safe. She tried the handle, only to find, as she had suspected, that the safe was locked and gave up on trying to open it. 

 

From the bedroom, she made her way into the nursery. She sat in the rocking chair, rubbing her stomach and humming to herself. She looked around the room. Jensen had showed it off with pride when she had first moved in. That had been the only time she had been in the room, until now. The room was decorated in yellows and greens with white baby furniture and she suspected that it had been Jensen, not Jared that had picked the decor. Had it been up to her, she would have had repainted the room to reflect the little girl she was carrying. Clearly, Jensen didn’t really care about Jared’s child. But, once Jensen was gone . . .

 

She pushed herself up from the chair and went downstairs. The only other place she could think of to go through to gain more insight into Jared was the home office. She stepped inside and walked over to the desk, flipping on the desk lamp. She sat down and started going through the drawers. The first drawer held nothing of importance to her, just odds and ends as far as she was concerned. The second drawer was paydirt in her opinion. She found files, one in particular caught her attention as it held information on the cabin and an extra set of keys. She pulled out the file, spread it out over the desk and read through it; memorizing the address and layout of the cabin and the surrounding area. She replaced the file and stood up to look through the bookshelf. She noticed several photo albums and pulled one out. She flipped through the pictures, seeing they were of Jared and Jensen’s wedding. Her hands curled into fists as she tamped down the desire to rip them to shreds. She slammed the album shut and shoved it back onto the shelf. 

 

While she had found out some information, it wasn’t a lot that she could use against Jensen or to lure Jared to her. She would have to step up her game, she just didn’t know what the next course of action was and she felt like time was running out. 

 

A smile came to her face as she thought of one thing she could hurt Jensen with what mattered to him most, his business. She sat back down at the desk and pulled out the drawer with the files; Jensen’s business contacts. She went through them, making a list of his vendors before turning her attention to the laptop sitting on the desk. She powered it up and sat back, hoping it wasn’t password protected. To her delight it wasn’t.

 

“Oh, you’re so stupid, Jensen. You should always use a password. You never know who you can trust, even in your own home.” She set to work going through the catering business’ files and emails; finding that even though Jensen ran his business from a different location, everything was linked to the home laptop. She began by going through Jensen’s calendar, canceling or rescheduling appointments. If that didn’t work, she could come back and start messing with Jensen’s vendors and any payments he issued to them. A few canceled payments or cancelation of orders would hurt him and his business. She let out a giggle as she canceled a dinner that Jensen had scheduled with Jared. This would show Jared that Jensen wasn’t as invested in their relationship when he didn’t show up. 

 

Two days later Jasmine’s handiwork began to show though. Jensen sat at his desk, going over files pertaining to his business,  _ A Tasteful Affair _ . He had his laptop open and was trying to figure out how two clients had showed up at the same time for a tasting. He was meticulous in keeping his business affairs in order. He had one no show and when he had called to speak with the potential client to reschedule he had been mystified when the client had told him their tasting had been canceled by him. Thankfully, they hadn’t found another caterer and had been willing to give him another chance. He leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was the only one who had access to his files so he couldn’t figure out what had happened.

 

The front door slamming pulled him from his thoughts. “Jensen!” Jared’s angry voiced yelled from the living room. Jensen pushed himself back from the desk, stood and went to see what was wrong. Jared hardly ever raised his voice, let alone yelled. This had to be bad if Jared was acting like this, Jensen mused to himself. 

 

The noise also brought Jasmine out of her room. She stood at the top of the steps, listening to the exchange between Jared and Jensen.

 

“Where the hell were you!” Jared’s voice was laced with anger as he stood, looking at Jensen. His hands curled into fist as he looked Jensen over, seeing him in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “I waited for over an hour for you.”

 

Jensen crunched his face up in confusion. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“The client dinner, the one that I was expecting you at. I looked like an idiot, not knowing where my husband was. I had to make excuses for your no show. Then I get home and find you here, looking like you’ve just been hanging out.” Jared growled in frustration. “What the fuck!”

 

“Jared, I haven’t been hanging out. I’ve been working.” He felt irritated with Jared’s accusation. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he spoke. “And I checked, there was nothing on my calendar for tonight with you or anyone else,” he shot back. 

 

“That’s impossible, you even confirmed by email when you accepted the request.” Jared let out a huff of breath, feeling himself begin to calm down. Jensen wouldn’t just flake out on him. There had to be an explanation. 

 

Jensen turned and walked back into their office, followed by Jared. He swept a hand over the desk, showing Jared that he had indeed been working. “Something is wrong with my business, my schedule is a mess. I had two clients show up at the same time, and then I had a no show. When I called to reschedule, the client told me I had canceled the appointment. Luckily, I persuaded the client to give me another chance.” Jensen looked up at Jared. “You know I wouldn’t just pull a no show. Why didn’t you call me?”

 

“I was too pissed to think straight,” he admitted with a shrug, feeling his anger drain as he listened to Jensen’s reason as to why he hadn’t shown up. He knew Jensen wouldn’t just leave him hanging without a call to explain why he wasn’t able to come. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. Did you figure out what went wrong?” Jared walked over to the desk and clicked a few keys on the laptop to see what Jensen had been working on.

 

“Not so much. I had to recreate everything in another file and this one is password protected. I can’t figure it out. None of my staff have access to my office, so I don’t think it was any of them. I haven’t had any issues with anyone one; no one’s been fired or reprimanded. The only thing I can think of is was there was a corrupted file. I spent most of the night going over everything, confirming upcoming events with my clients and my orders with the vendors I use.” Jensen gave a shug and worried his bottom lip as he turned to Jared. “I just can’t figure it out, what went wrong.”

 

“So, you’re the only one at work who has access and the only other way to get into the files is on our laptop.” It was more of a statement than a question as Jared spoke to Jensen. 

 

“Yeah, why? Where are you going with this?” Jensen looked at Jared with curiosity and cocked his head to the side.

 

“You don’t think Jasmine . . .”

 

“What? Why would you even think that?”

 

Jared just shrugged in response to Jensen’s question. Was it possible that she had found a way onto their laptop and screwed around with Jensen’s business? She had been making comments about how Jensen always seemed too busy to be involved in their marriage; which Jared found to be total shit. But, with this happening right on the heels of her last comments, ‘ _ It just, he’s always putting his business before you’ _ , it didn’t feel like it was coincidental. The comment had made him uncomfortable at the time, but he had dismissed it. Maybe he shouldn’t have. 

 

“Jared?”

 

“It’s just . . .” He shook his head. Why would Jasmine want to screw with Jensen’s business? What would she gain from it? The loss of income would only hurt them, not her. “But, Jasmine is the only one here when we’re not. I’ve never seen her near our office,” he said with a shrug. He shook his head. “Nothing, it was just a stupid thought. But, we should make sure that our laptop is password protected as well as the one at your site.” He hunched over the laptop as his fingers tapped at the keys. He backed up the files, including what Jensen had called the corrupted files. He wanted to take a look at them when he had a chances. For now, he made sure that everything was protected. “Well, we’ve done everything we can tonight. We’ve password protected your files and mine and the laptop itself. How about we go to bed?”

 

Jasmine stood at the end of the hall, listening to the exchange between Jensen and Jared. So, Jensen wasn’t totally clueless, she mused. That still didn’t make him the right fit for Jared, she was, in her mind. She silently made her way to her room as they finished up in the office. 

 

Three weeks had passed since that morning, where Jasmine had asked about going to the cabin, without another incident happening between Jared and Jasmine, or anything having to do with Jensen’s business. He had actually been able to forget about that morning and had never bothered to bring it up to Jensen since then.

 

“Jared,” A female voice purred from the doorway. Slowly, Jasmine made her way into Jared’s office, with a seductive smile on her face, she stood a foot from his desk, watching him.

 

Jared looked up from the file on his desk to find Jasmine standing in front of his desk. A look of annoyance passed his face as he tried to school his anger. “What are you doing here? You can’t just come to my office.” He took a deep breath at seeing the look of hurt on Jasmine’s face. He stood up from his desk and came to stand next to her. “Is everything alright? Is there anything wrong with you or the baby?”

 

“Everything is fine,” she said as she grabbed Jared’s hand and placed it over her swollen belly. “Feel that? It’s your baby moving inside me. The one we created.” 

 

Jared quickly pulled his hand back as if he had just been burned. “Let’s get something straight. This is the child I’m having with my husband. You do remember that I’m gay? That I’m married to Jensen? I love my husband.” He walked over to open the door that she had closed when she had first walked in, and turned back to Jasmine, saw the look of defiance in her eyes. “This, this has to stop. There’s nothing between us. And, for the record, it was Jensen who donated, not me. So, if you want to get technical about things, it’s Jensen’s biological child you’re carrying, not mine.” That had been a little fact that he and Jensen had kept between them. No one, not their parents or even their closest friends had been privy to that information. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Jasmine began to cry. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I thought you’d like to see . . . to feel . . . I was wrong. I won’t bother you again.” She pushed past Jared and tried to leave his office.

 

“Wait, sit down.” Jared motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he grabbed a tissue for her and handed it to her. He waited for her to sit down before he joined her. “Look, I get this is probably overwhelming for you. You feel connected to this baby. You’re young and maybe a little scare of being alone. You’ve got your signals crossed. I can’t be anything to you, except a friend. I love my husband. I’m sorry if there was anything misleading in my intention of friendship toward you.” He watched as she smiled sadly and nodded her head at his words. He took her hands in his and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I was just hoping, I guess. You’re such a good husband. You take such good care of Jensen. I just wanted that for myself. Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones that have got me acting like a crazy person. I’m sorry.” She stood up, looked down at Jared and then placed a chaste kiss against his cheek as the door to Jared’s office was pushed open. 

 

They both looked up to see Jensen standing in the doorway, wearing a look of shock on his face. “Well, clearly you have plans for lunch.” His tone of voice was icy and his eyes narrowed as he looked from Jared to Jasmine. His throat tightened with thought of Jasmine kissing his husband. Jared had never given him a reason to doubt his faithfulness to him or their marriage. But, seeing them, he couldn’t stop the rising jealousy and anger. He felt betrayed by Jared. Had something been going on with Jared and Jasmine and he had been too blind to see it? Then his thoughts went to the night Jared had commented on Jasmine wearing his shirt. Had Jared just used that as a deflection?  

 

Jared stood so quickly that he nearly knocked the chair over. “No, Jasmine just . . .” He felt flustered, like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But he had done nothing wrong. If anyone should be ashamed, it was Jasmine. He ran his hands through his hair before finally finishing his thought. “No, Jasmine just surprised me.” He turned to look at her. “Why are you here? I mean . . . how did you get here?” 

 

Jasmine smiled coly at Jared and then threw Jensen a wide grin. “I had to pick up a few things that I needed. Don’t worry, I didn’t drive, I took an Uber. I was in the area and the baby was jumping around. I just thought I’d surprise Jared. He loves to touch my stomach.” She placed a hand over her belly, rubbing in circles as she spoke. “I would have shared it with you, had you been around. You’re always working, Jensen. Leaving Jared to pick up the slack. Is that how it’s going to be when this baby arrives? Maybe you shouldn’t be a parent if can’t even be a husband.”  

 

Jensen stared at Jasmine before turning to Jared. “Is that what you think?” 

 

“What? No!” Jared crossed to stand in front of Jensen. He cupped Jensen’s face in his hands. “I never thought that,” he said as he placed a kiss on Jensen’s lips. He let go of Jensen and turned to Jasmine. “That was way out of line. We took you in, gave you a place to live because Jensen wanted that for you. We’ve taken care of you, every whim - late night runs for ice cream, we’re paying you very well for your services and this is how you repay my husband’s generosity? You question his ability to be a parent?” He could hear his voice rising, he could feel the anger building within himself. He looked up to see that several of his coworkers had stopped to see what was going on in his office. He reached around Jensen and slammed the door shut. He turned back to Jasmine and saw the smirk on her face. “We have an iron clad contract in place. The child you’re carrying is ours. You have some nerve, showing up here, at my place of employment and then hurting Jensen like that.” He felt Jensen’s hand on his back. 

 

“Jared, let’s calm down.” Jensen’s quiet voice cut through Jared’s anger.

 

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Jasmine sniffled out, tears formed in her eyes and she wiped at them with the tissue that she still clutched in her hand. “It’s just lately you’ve been working a lot, Jensen. It just made me think about what it would be like for this baby.”

 

Jensen took a step forward. He turned to Jared, “I’ve been working more lately so I can take time off once our baby is born. I didn’t mean for you to pick up the slack or feel neglected. I thought you knew that, that you were alright with that.” He felt Jared entwine his fingers with his and give his hand a reassuring squeeze. Even though he didn’t have to, he still felt the need to defend himself to Jasmine. “As far as my ability to be a parent, well, I can only do my best. No one is perfect. But, I love our child and she’s not even here yet. So, for you to question my devotion to her or my husband is a slap in the face.” He made sure to keep his voice down, tried to keep a non-threatening tone when all he wanted to do was slap Jasmine across the face for her callous words.

 

“You’re right, I had no right to question you. It’s just that my mom . . . she was never really involved. I had to fend for myself, but I don’t want that for her. I know I don’t have a claim to this baby. I signed the papers, I know she’s not mine. You don’t have to worry about that. I’m sorry I upset you, both of you. You’ve both been great to me. You’ll be the best parents. I should probably go.” She moved around both men as she made her way to the door. 

 

“Wait, I’ll give you a ride home,” Jensen said as he let go of Jared’s hand. 

 

“No, you should take time to be with Jared. I can call for a ride.”

 

Jensen shook his head, while he wanted to strangle the woman, he didn’t want her to have to wait for a car when he was already here. He knew he would worry about her and the baby getting home safely. “No, I’m not going to let you call for a car. Jared and I won’t hear of it. I’m here and I can take you home. Then I can make you something to eat.” Jensen kissed Jared. “We’ll talk tonight?” 

 

Jared could hear the uncertainty in Jensen’s voice. “Jasmine, give me a minute with my husband,” he said as he ushered her out into the hallway before closing the door behind her. “There’s nothing between us that we need to talk about. What she said, her words not mine. I have never once voiced them, because I’ve never thought them. You take damn good care of me. I’m happily married to you, never doubt that. I love you.” Jared pulled Jensen close to his body, felt the warmth of Jensen against him. He placed a kiss at Jensen’s pulse point on his neck before nipping at it with his teeth. “I’ll see you tonight.” He let go of Jensen and watched as his husband left his office, followed closely by Jasmine. She turned, gave him a smile and a little wave of her hand before disappearing into the elevator with his husband.

 


	5. Despair and Desire

Jared was about to return to his desk when his boss, Mr. Miller appeared before him. “Jared, we need talk,” he said as he entered Jared’s office and closed the door. “I will not tolerate this type of behavior from one of my employees.”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to.” Jared looked at Mr. Miller with confusion as he knitted his brows together trying to figure out what his boss was talking about.

 

“You’re married and have some pregnant woman in here, crying, like some soap opera occurring right here in your office, for everyone to see, including our clients . . . I won’t have that type of disruption in my business. This is a law firm, not a place to parade your pregnant girlfriend around. Whatever you do with your personal life is one thing, but it will not play out on company time. One more incident like this, and you will no longer have a job here. Do I make myself clear?” Mr. Miller gave Jared a pointed look as he crossed his arms over his chest.

 

Jared stood dumbfounded as he looked at his boss. He cleared his throat, giving himself time to recover from his boss’ words. “Yes, of course. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry for the lack of professionalism.” He knew some of his coworkers had witnessed a few moments of the drama, but he hadn’t thought it was bad enough that his boss had gotten word of it. He knew his boss and most of the people he worked with were accepting of his marriage, but Miller was very big on privacy and keeping your home life at home.

 

“Good, it’s unseemly having your pregnant mistress here and then your husband walks in on the two of you. What were you thinking?” Miller asked, with a pained expression on his face.

 

Jared coughed, nearly choking on his own tongue. “Wait, what? No, Jasmine isn’t my mistress. She’s our surrogate.”

 

“Oh,” Miller gasped out. “Oh, because this entire thing was very confusing, having your husband and a pregnant mistress here all at once. Still, I won’t allow something like this to happen again. Work this out at home.” With that, Miller left Jared’s office. 

 

All Jared could do was blink several times, trying to make sense of everything that had transpired that morning. While he wanted to deal with what had just happened, he could leave work. He had to sure to get everything taken care of that had been on his agenda before leaving the office. When he got home he had to have a talk with both Jensen and Jasmine. He had to make Jasmine understand that he was off limits, that his place of employment was no place for her to ever be again. He couldn’t afford to lose his job, not with the baby coming.

 

Wearily, Jensen walked through the front door. His mind had been churning since they had left Jared’s office. The ride home had been awkward and strained between himself and Jasmine. Just what the hell was going on between Jared and Jasmine. He had heard of straight men dabbling in gay sex. Was this the reverse for Jared? Was Jared entertaining the thought of having heterosexual sex? And with their surrogate? They had both been with women when they were younger. He knew that. They had been honest about their pasts with each other. So, this . . . this was hard to take, hard to wrap his mind around. He felt like his world was falling apart. Was he losing Jared? Was he losing Jared to Jasmine? He didn’t know what to think, or how to deal with the things that were happening right now.

 

“I’m going to go lay down.” Jasmine announced once the front door was closed.

 

Jensen spun around. “What happened today? Why were you at Jared’s work? What’s going on between the two of you?” He hated asking, but he needed to know what he was up against. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding? He hoped so. He watched as Jasmine’s lips curled up into a smile. Seeing that, he felt his stomach drop to his feet. 

 

“Jensen, you should know, Jared and I . . . well, we’re really close. I’ve fit into the lonely space you left in him while you’re out night after night working, building your catering business. All the success in the world means nothing when your husband leaves you. And he will, he’ll leave you with nothing and he’ll take his baby with him. You’ll have nothing. He’s already said as much to me. He’s no longer happy being married to you; he hasn’t been in a while.” She turned and walked out of the living room, leaving a shocked Jensen staring after her.

 

Jasmine climbed the stairs to her room. She paused at the top of the stairs to look back over the living room. She saw Jensen’s hunched in form sitting on the couch and smiled. Her words had had the effect that she had been hoping for. She had managed to plant the little seed of doubt in Jensen’s mind about Jared, about the strength of Jared’s commitment to Jensen and their marriage. She hummed to herself as she entered her bedroom and laid down on the bed. It wouldn’t take much effort to sever the already unraveling tie Jensen had on Jared. Then Jared would turn to her, need her comfort and he would fall for her. They would take the baby growing inside her and raise it as their own. She was sure that Jared had just been taunting her when he had told her Jensen was the biological donor. “It was a test. Jared was just testing me to see how committed I am to him and our baby. That’s all,” she said as she closed her eyes and brought her hands up to rub her stomach. “You’ll see, we’ll be a family soon enough.” 

 

Jensen felt his knees buckle. He reached out and steadied himself against the wall. Slowly he made his way to the couch to sit down. Surely what Jasmine said wasn’t true. But, then there had been that kiss and Jared’s reaction when he had asked Jared why Jasmine was there. He fiddle with his wedding ring, turning it around and around on his finger. He didn’t know what to make of this afternoon’s display. He was so lost. Was his marriage ending? Was he losing Jared and their child to Jasmine? Had he managed to push Jared away with his own desire to have a child? He knew Jared hadn’t always been happy with his undying pursuit to adopt or find a surrogate. Had he alienated Jared enough that Jared had sought comfort somewhere else?  He sat unmoving, not noticing that the day had slipped by until a light was flicked on, drawing his attention back to the here and now.

 

“Hey,” Jared said as he notice Jensen sitting on the couch. “Why are you in the dark?” He asked as he brushed his lips to Jensen’s forehead. “Look, we need to talk about Jasmine.”

 

Jensen’s head snapped up as Jared spoke. He could feel the tightness in his chest beginning to crush him. Jared wanted to talk. Was this it? Was Jared about to level the killing blow to their marriage? Was Jared going to take their child away from him if Jared did end things? While he was the biological father, Jared was lawyer. Jared knew the law and its loopholes. Jared could take everything and leave him with nothing. He remembered Jasmine’s words, “ _ He’ll leave you with nothing and he’ll take his baby with him. You’ll have nothing” _ . He couldn’t breathe. He tried to fight back the tears that were pricking at his eyes. If Jared was about to tell him that their marriage was over, he was determined not to let Jared see his pain. He wouldn’t cry, he’d hold on to his dignity until he was alone. 

 

“She just showed up today. She was spouting crap about how she and I created this baby and how she wants me. She even kissed me. It wasn’t even the first time. I think there’s something wrong with her.” He waited for Jensen to say something. When Jensen remained silent, he pressed on. “I’ve told her I’m married, that I only love you. I told her I’m gay, but she seems to think . . . I don’t know what she seems to think. Then my boss come in and tells me if anything like today happens again, I’m fired.” He turned to Jensen. “Will you say something?” Jared looked at Jensen, saw that the color had drained from his face and his eyes were lifeless. This was bad, he thought to himself as he looked at his husband. 

 

“She kissed you? More than once?” Jensen asked in a whisper. Was Jared admitting to an affair? Had Jared truly betrayed him? He felt like his world was crashing down around him. He looked up at Jared with tears in his eyes. “Are you . . . are you in love with her?” He could barely get the words out, but he had to know what he was dealing with.

 

Jared stared at Jensen, his mouth gaping open. What had Jensen just asked him? “What?” It took a moment for his mind to wrap around everything. “No!” He took Jensen’s hands in his and pulled him up from the couch. “Listen to me, Jensen, there is no one but you. Do you hear me?” He watched as Jensen looked at him, as the words finally sunk into Jensen’s consciousness. “I don’t love her. I don’t want her. You, I only want you and our baby.”

 

Jensen tried to pull away from Jared, but Jared held firmly to him him. “But, she said . . .”

 

“What did Jasmine say?” Jared questioned. He felt the anger within him rising again. Jasmine was a poison in their lives and she had obviously tried to undermine Jensen and their marriage. 

 

“She said that she . . . you and she were really close. That she fit into the lonely space that I left in you while I was out night after night working, building my catering business . . .” he let his voice trail off as he remembered Jasmine’s biting words. “She said that all the success in the world means nothing when your husband leaves you. That you would leave me, you would leave me with nothing and that you would take your baby with you. Not my baby or even ours, but yours. That I would have nothing.” He swallowed, tasting bile as he recalled Jasmine’s smile as she had spoken to him. “She told me that you’re no longer happy being married to you, that you haven’t been in a while.” He heard how strained his voice sounded as he repeated Jasmine’s words. 

 

“That bitch! Where the hell is she?” Jared saw Jensen flinch and realized he still had Jensen by the forearms and was squeezing them. He let go of Jensen, only to rub over the areas, hoping to ease away the pain he had caused. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry about hurting you.” he raised his hands to his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “What the fuck is this game she thinks she’s play with us?” Jared strode over to the staircase, he had one foot on the first step and his hand on the bannister when Jensen stopped him.

 

“Jared, stop.” Jensen placed a hand over Jared’s as it rested on the bannister.

 

Jared turned to him, hazel eyes blazing at him in anger. “Stop! Why?” Jared hissed out.

 

“Because, she’s carrying our child . . .” Whatever else he was about to say was cut off as the door to Jasmine’s room opened and she appeared a few moments later at the top of the stairs.

 

She smiled sweetly at Jared before her smiled morphed into a grimace at seeing Jensen touching Jared. She narrowed her eyes at the sight, feeling herself begin to seethe with anger. “Jared, you’re home. I was just coming to find Jensen, the baby is kicking up a storm and thought he might like to feel your daughter’s movements.”

 

She sounded so innocent to Jared’s ears as she spoke. “Jasmine, why don’t you come down here? I’d like to feel the baby kick.” Jared watched as she climbed down the stairs, holding the bannister for support, with a hand placed on her back. “Does your back hurt?”

 

“Yes,” she breathed out. “Who knew how uncomfortable being pregnant could be?” She chuckled at her words. 

 

Jensen fought the desire to tell her that the doctor had warned her about how uncomfortable she would be by the end of her pregnancy. He bit back the words on his tongue, he knew saying them would only result in a fight with her. He didn’t want that; to fight with her. He wanted Jasmine to stay calm for the sake of the child she was carrying. “Why don’t you take a seat on the couch? Put your feet up while I make you something to eat? Are you hungry?” Jensen offered as Jared helped Jasmine to the couch. He turned to leave but Jared’s voice stopped him as he rounded the couch on his way to the kitchen. He turned back to see Jared sitting on the coffee table in front of Jasmine.

 

“No, first we need to talk about something,” Jared said. His voice was even as he spoke. He waited until Jasmine was comfortably seated before continuing on. “What happened today, at my work . . . that can never happen again.” He held up his hand as Jasmine tried to interject. “There was no reason for you to be there. My coworkers witnessed the drama, a client could have witnessed it and decided to pull out from the firm. I could have been fired.” He looked at Jensen, saw the pained look on his husband’s face, but ignored it. “Jensen told me what you said to him today. About me leaving him. That’s never going to happen. He’s my husband and I love him. I’m in love with him, have been since I first set eyes on him. There is nothing going on between you and I. I’ve told you that.” He leveled a glaring look at Jasmine, trying to drive home his point. 

 

“Jared I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked up at him, eyes filling with tears. “I never said anything like that to him. He was the one talking about leaving you. How he would take the baby and take you for everything you’re worth.” Her lips trembled as a few tears slid down her cheeks. “Jensen’s the one who said such horrible things about you. I stood up for you. I told him he’s lucky to have you. He’s the one that never has time for you. He should be down on his knees, kissing the ground you walk on.”

 

Jared looked up at Jensen. He saw the look of horror on Jensen’s face. He watched as Jensen shook his head from side to side, uttering the word no several times. 

 

“No, no, no . . . Jared, I never said that,” Jensen whispered to him.

 

Jared held up his hands to stop Jensen and Jasmine from speaking further. He looked at Jensen and smiled at him, hoping Jensen knew how absurd Jasmine’s explanation sounded, before turning his face to look at Jasmine. 

 

“I’ve told Jensen about the kiss, the one in the kitchen when you were wearing my shirt and the one today, in my office. This has to stop. Whatever game you’re playing,” he growled out at her. He was finding it hard to keep his anger in check. He wanted to lash out at her for causing Jensen pain, making him think there was the slightest possibility that Jared didn’t want him, was even entertaining the thought that he would leave Jensen.

 

“Jared I don’t know why you’re saying this. You kissed me, you told me that you were unhappy in your marriage. You said that you wanted to see where things could go between us, especially since we’re having a child together.” She tried to reach out to touch him, only to see him flinch away from her. She felt her anger spike at seeing that.

 

Jared looked at Jasmine in dismay. What had she just said? “No, Jasmine. I’ve told you all along that I‘m happily married to Jensen. I don’t know how to make it any plainer. I’m not in love with you.” Jared stood up, as Jensen took a step back from them. “Jensen, it’s not true.”

 

Jensen looked at Jared with wet eyes as he tried to hold in the pain and tears. He knew in his heart that Jared was telling true, it was just hard to hear the lies that were spilling from Jasmine’s lips. “Jared . . .” His words were cut off as Jasmine cried out in pain. 

 

Both Jared and Jensen froze, waiting for Jasmine to tell them what was wrong. She struggled to her feet and doubled over in pain. Jared stood and reached out to steady her as a gush of water pooled between her feet. “Oh God, I think the baby is coming!” She cried out in pain as she reached out for Jared.

 

Jensen turned, darted into the kitchen to grab the dish towel they kept hanging off the refrigerator handle and rushed back with it. “So, you don’t slip and fall,” he said as he tossed it over the puddle. “Do you have your hospital bag packed?” 

 

Jasmine nodded. “Yeah, hall closet.” 

 

Jensen nodded. “I’ll get it and then call the doctor. Jared, time her contractions,” he said as he was moving through the room to the closet and he dug his phone out of his pants pocket. He hit his contact list and pulled up Dr. Collins’ number and waited for the call to be picked up. “Dr Collins? This is Jensen Padalecki. Jasmine’s water just broke.” He listened as the doctor spoke. He turned to look at Jasmine and Jared, saw that Jared was doing as he had asked. “The doctor wants to know how far apart the contractions are.” 

 

“They’re about five minutes apart,” Jared said in a shaky voice. He held onto Jasmine as she sagged against his body for support as the contraction ripped through her body. He listened as Jensen relayed the information.

 

“Yes, go it.” Jensen turned toward them. “Dr. Collins want us to get Jasmine to the hospital. Jared, grab the throw and wrap it around Jasmine to help keep her warm,” he said as he picked up her bag and grabbed his keys from the table near the front door. He held the door open as Jared helped Jasmine to their SUV. Once Jasmine was in the backseat and Jared was in the passenger’s seat, he slid in behind the driver’s wheel and started the tense drive to the hospital.


	6. New Arrival

When they arrived, they barely had time to breathe before they found themselves in a birthing room, with Jasmine ready to give birth to their daughter. Jensen looked up at Jared with a concerned look on his face; his mind was a whirl of thought, wasn’t this supposed to take hours, were things going well, would their daughter have any medical issues, would she be born safely? Jared could only take Jensen’s hand in his and give it a reassuring squeeze. He was as out of his element as Jensen was. They both turned as someone knocked on the door and a minute later Dr. Collins entered the room with his birthing team following closely on his heels.

 

“So, who’s ready to meet their little girl?” Collins asked, with a warm smile on his face. “Jared, Jensen, Jasmine has agreed to the two of you being present for the birth of your daughter. I’m going to ask you to stay back as we do this,” he said as he walked over to Jasmine to check on her progression. “It will only be a matter of time.”

 

A nurse approached Jared and Jensen and ushered them to a corner of the room, giving Collins and his staff room to move about as Jasmine gave birth to their daughter. “Okay, Jasmine, push.” Collins told Jasmine as she panted and groaned on the bed, feet in stirrups. “I can see the head, not long now,” Collins announced to the room. “One more push,” Collins’ voice cut through the tension that had wrapped around Jensen and Jared like a blanket as they waited to meet Ava. 

 

A tiny, almost indignant cry broke through the din of noise in the room. Jared took a stuttered breath and latched onto Jensen, needing to steady them both as Ava was briefly shown to them. Collins announced the birth of their daughter before handing the baby to the nurse for the post-delivery routine of recording her weight and length and allowing Jensen and Jared to cut the remaining umbilical cord. 

 

The nurse called them over and offered a pair of scissors to them. Together, they cut the umbilical cord. Once the baby was cleaned, diapered and swaddled in a pink blanket, the nurse held up the mewling little girl. “Who wants to be the first to hold their beautiful little girl?” Her eyes fell on Jensen as he was gently nudged forward by Jared. 

 

“Her Daddy does,” Jared offered with a bright smile. He dug into his pants pocket to retrieve his cell phone to take the first picture of Jensen holding their daughter. He watched as Jensen held out his arms as the nursed handed over Ava to him. 

 

Jensen beamed down at his daughter. “Hi Ava, I’m your Daddy,” he cooed to the child in his arms. “We’re so happy to finally meet you.” He turned toward Jared, a content smile on his face. “That giant over there, he’s your Papa.” He looked up at Jared to see Jared’s smile and tears glistening against his eyelashes. Jensen stood, holding their miracle of a little girl as Jared snapped picture after picture of them. He smiled as he looked down at Ava; their daughter was finally here.

 

Jared stepped forward. “Hi baby girl,” he murmured as he placed a kiss against Ava’s forehead.

 

“Would you like a picture of the three of you together?” The nurse asked. 

 

Jared could only nod. Right now, if he spoke, he might let loose the tears he was holding back. He looked at Jensen, saw Jensen’s tears and reached out a hand to wipe them away. To him, Jensen looked like a natural, holding their child in his arms. 

 

“She’s here. We have our family,” Jensen said quietly as Jared took up a space behind him so they could pose for their first picture as a family. The nurse snapped several pictures before handing Jared back his phone. “Here, take her so I can get one of the two of you,” Jensen offered. 

 

“I’m not sure . . . How do I . . .” All the parenting tips he had learned in their classes had left his brain the moment Ava had been born. She was so tiny and he felt like his body was so massive compared to her. He was pretty sure that he would either break her or drop her once he had her in his arms. 

 

“She won’t break, I promise,” Jensen said with a reassuring smile. He could see the fear on Jared’s face. “Here, support her head, the rest will fall into place.”

 

True to his words, Jensen was right. The minute he had Ava in his arms, Jared felt relaxed as Jensen snapped several pictures. He nuzzled Ava’s soft skin with his nose before giving her a kiss. He beamed up at Jensen as Jensen took another picture.

 

Jensen turned back to the nurse. “Can you take one of us with Jasmine and Ava?” He looked back at Jasmine with a soft smile. “I mean, if that’s alright with you. I know we never actually discussed it. But, I’d like one of you with us. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have her. I’d like to show her the woman who gave us such an incredible gift.” At that point, with Ava finally having arrived, neither he nor Jared cared about the past events that had led up to Ava’s birth. They had Ava and were content with leaving the past in the past. Once they were able to take Ava home, they would never have to deal with Jasmine again. 

 

Jasmine smiled. “Of course.”

 

The nurse took Jared’s phone again as Jared and Jensen each took a spot on the bed, enveloping Jasmine between them and handing her Ava. The nurse took several pictures of them together before handing the phone to Jensen.

 

“We need to finish up with this beautiful little girl,” Dr. Collins said as he approached the bed. He had stepped away to give Jensen and Jared a few minutes with Ava. “We need to get her Apgar score and fill out the paperwork. I’ve accessed Ms. Greene’s health and she’s doing fine. Both she and the baby will stay overnight just so we can monitor their health, make sure nothing arises. Then, we can look at releasing them both. I heard the name Ava, so I’m assuming that’s the little one’s name?”

 

“Yes, Ava Jade Padalecki,” Jensen answered. He watched as Collins nodded and recorded the information and the nurse took Ava from Jared.

 

“Right, now as for the listing of mother and father . . .” He looked at them with a wariness on his face. “We haven’t had a lot of same sex parents, where they have both been male and made use of a surrogate.”

 

“Jensen is the biological father,” Jared offered as a way to break the awkwardness.

 

“I am, but Jared has to be listed as her parent as well. Ava is his as well as mine.” Jensen said, waiting for Collins to contradict him. 

 

Collins looked up from his paperwork. “We’re in luck! The hospital has changed their paperwork to catch up with the times. I can list you both as parents, rather than having to list the names of the mother and father. All the necessary paperwork will be ready for you by the time Ava is released for you to take her home. Congratulations to you both.” Collins walked over to the nurse with Ava and recorded more medical information. “Welcome, Ava Padalecki,” he said before leaving the room.

 

The nurse turned back to Jared and Jensen. “Well, congratulations. This little one is going to be a heartbreaker,” she said as she eyed Jensen. Jared saw the look she gave Jensen, it was almost wistful, and he felt a spark of possessiveness in his core. He watched as her eyes swept up Jensen’s body, resting on his face before she looked away, a slight blush colored her cheeks. He felt the need to step in between the nurse holding their daughter and Jensen and remind her that Jensen was his husband. But, he reminded himself of just that, Jensen was his husband and Jensen had never so much as looked at the nurse except when she was holding Ava. “So, I’m taking it that breastfeeding is out?” She asked with a laugh. 

 

“Yeah, that’s pretty much been ruled out,” Jensen offered with a laugh of his own. 

 

The nurse placed Ava on the examination table. “I just need to place this lovely pink bracelet around her ankle and then give each of you matching ones.” She saw the look of confusion on their faces. “These will allow us to scan the barcode and make sure that yours matches Ava’s. This way, no one can claim to be her parents and walk out of the hospital with her. You won’t be able to leave the floor without one of us either buzzing you out or waving this over the door scanner.” She handed the bracelets to them and watched as they secured them around their wrists. “Why don’t the two of you come with me to the nursery? We can give Ms. Greene time to rest and I can go over feeding and changing Ava,” the nurse offered. 

 

“Sure,” Jared said as he threw his arm over Jensen’s shoulder, pulling him close as the nurse’s gaze rested on Jensen a bit too long for his liking. “Lead the way.” He turned back to Jasmine before they left. “We’ll check back in with you before we leave, get some rest.” He didn’t wait for a response from Jasmine as he followed the nurse and Jensen out of the room and down the hall.

 

“This is our nursery,” the nurse, Tina, as Jared finally looked at her name tag to see her name stated. “Why don’t one of you have a seat in the rocking chair? Then I’ll fix a bottle for her.” 

 

Jensen stepped forward and positioned himself in the chair as Tina placed Ava in his arms. Jared stood behind Jensen, watching between Jensen and the nurse. “We took parenting classes,” Jared said matter-of-factly.

 

Tina turned back to him with a smile on her face. “That will make everything go smoothly for the transition. I just want to make sure you’re both comfortable with feeding and changing her. Then tomorrow before you take her home, we can go over bathing her and caring for the umbilical cord area until it falls off.”

 

The rest of their time spent in the nursery consisted of going over the best formula brands for Ava as a newborn and as she grew. Tina cautioned them to speak with their pediatrician to make sure that Ava was on the right formula at her first checkup. She put together a bag full of the formula they would be using while Ava was at the hospital to tide them over for few days until their first check up along with a few feeding bottles. She handed the bottle of formula she had made to Jensen and cooed over him as he fed and burped Ava. “She’s such a good baby and you’re a natural with her. Usually the newborns cry, this one, she’s just content to be in her Daddy’s arms, aren’t you?” She watched as Jensen fed Ava, reaching out every once in a while to place a comforting hand on Jensen’s shoulder. “Yeah, she’s so happy being with you.” She asked Jared if he had any questions as she helped him change Ava’s diaper and showed them both how to swaddle her before placing her in a crib. “She’ll stay in the nursery until she’s ready to go home with you. She’ll be in good hands here,” Tina assured them before walking them out to the nurses’ station. “Feel free to call if you want to check in during the night.” She waved to them as they left after having checked in with Jasmine.

 

As they waited for the elevator Jared pulled Jensen to him. “That nurse was totally checking you out. And she kept touching you,” Jared said in a low voice.

 

Jensen shook his head. “No she wasn’t. Plus,” he said as he held up his left hand to display his wedding ring, “I’m married to this really giant of a guy who can be very possessive and protective of me at times. Once they see my husband, they usually run the other way.” 

 

Jared placed a soft kiss on Jensen’s lips. “She was and I didn’t care for it,” he grumbled as they got into the elevator. He heard Jensen chuckle as the doors closed. He looked over at Jensen who had wedged himself into one of the corners of the elevator. He looked tired, but happy Jared thought to himself. He watched as Jensen raised his head and Jensen’s green eyes met his. “Come on, let’s go home. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted,” Jared said as the doors opened. He grabbed Jensen’s hand, linked their fingers together and led him out to their SUV. 

 

The drive back to their home was quiet. Jared looked over at Jensen to see him with a phone in his hands. He realized it was his phone. “Hey, how did you even get my phone?” Jared said in a plaintiff tone.

 

Jensen looked up and smiled at him. “The nurse, Tina. Your phone has the pictures. I’m just sending them to our parents, letting them know that Ava has been born and that we’ll call everyone once she’s home and we’re settled in.”

 

“How do I know that you’re not trying to sabotage me?” Jared asked jokingly.

 

“You don’t,” Jensen responded with a chuckle as he handed Jared back his phone. 

 

Jared pulled the SUV into their driveway and followed Jensen into their home. “I’m gonna clean up,” Jared said as he moved off toward the kitchen, where he placed the bag from the hospital on the counter. When he was done cleaning the living room from the mess that had happened earlier that night, he wearily climbed the stair to their bedroom. He saw the light on in the nursery and made his way to the room. He found Jensen sitting in the rocking chair. “Hey,” he said quietly.

 

Jensen turned toward the sound of Jared’s voice. “It’s real, we have our child. We’re going to bring Ava home. This will be her room,” he said in awe. 

 

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem possible. Hey, let’s go to bed. It sounds like we’ll be able to bring Ava home tomorrow so we should get some sleep. It might be the last full night of sleep we get until she goes off to college.”

 

“Who are you kidding? We’re never going to sleep again,” Jensen let out a tired laugh as he pushed himself up and onto his feet and followed Jared into their bedroom. After getting ready for bed, Jensen climbed into bed next to Jared. He felt Jared reach for him, pulling him close as he settled his head on Jared’s chest, listening to the soothing thud of Jared’s heartbeat lulling him to sleep.

 

The next morning, Jensen slipped from the bed to make his way back into Ava’s room. He felt the need to dust it from top to bottom, making sure it would be ready for when they brought her home. He stripped and remade the crib before leaving the room to get some much needed coffee.

 

“Jensen, I have to go into the office for a few hours,” Jared said as he walked toward the kitchen. The smell of coffee wafted in the air, letting him know that was where he would find his husband. 

 

Jensen looked up from the mug of coffee he was holding. “But, Ava . . .” He looked at Jared in disbelief. They were supposed to be bringing Ava home today, if everything went well. How could Jared want to miss this? He felt anger rising up within himself. He took a few deep breaths, hoping to calm himself as he reminded himself that Jared would never willingly miss this.

 

Jared held up his hand. “I know. It’s only for a few hours. Then we can go to the hospital and get our little girl. I’m sorry, I just can’t get out of this.” He had called his office to let them know of Ava’s birth. While his boss had been happy for him, he still wanted to go over a case with Jared that Jared had been working on. There had been no way for him to get out of this meeting. The only thing that made this even remotely doable was the reassurance of his boss that it wouldn’t be a very long meeting.

 

Jensen frowned at Jared. “Yeah, I get it. Go, so you can be back as soon as possible.” Jensen slid off the kitchen stool to pour a travel mug full of coffee for Jared. He pressed the mug to Jared’s chest and shooed him from the kitchen.

 

“Um, okay,” Jared said as he accepted the mug and kissed Jensen goodbye. He chuckled to himself as he left the house. He hoped his boss wouldn’t keep him long or Jensen was going to lose it waiting for him to get home he thought to himself as he drove to his office.

 

Three hours later and there was no escape in sight for Jared. He finally had to excuse himself from the meeting to call Jensen. What was supposed to be just going over a file with his boss had turned into an actual meeting with the client he was representing in court. He knew Jensen was going to be furious with him as he punched in Jensen’s number. He didn’t even get a word out as the call was picked up on the first ring.

 

“Jared, where are you? Are you on your way?” Jensen asked breathlessly.

 

Jared rubbed at the nape of his neck in nervousness. “Um, no . . .”

 

“What? What do you mean, no?” Jensen yelled into the phone. It had been three and a half hours since Jared had left their home. It was only supposed to be a quick meeting, nothing that was supposed to keep Jared this long at work.

 

“Well, I’m with a client. Mr. Miller set up a meeting and now I’m stuck here, going over strategies for court. I’m sorry,” he whispered into the phone. “I had no idea he set this up.”

 

“Do you want me to talk to Miller?” Jensen responded. He would, he would call Miller and tell him that they had to take their daughter home from the hospital. Jared needed to be here for that.

 

Jared almost choked at hearing Jensen’s words. “No! Are you crazy?” Shit, this wasn’t going well. “Sorry, I know you just want to bring Ava home. Why don’t you? I mean, you can go to the hospital and get her. Your car is set up with the car seat. That way, you don’t have to wait for me,” Jared offered. It was the best thing he could think of at the moment to appease Jensen.

 

“But, we’re supposed to be doing this together,” Jensen countered back.

 

“Yeah, but I don’t want Ava at the hospital any longer than she needs to be. This way, you can get her and spend some time with her. Then, when I get home, I can take over. We’re a team in this, right?”

 

“Yes, but . . .”

 

“Jensen, go get Ava, bring her home. I gotta get back to the client. I love you,” Jared reassured Jensen before ending the call. He groaned inwardly. He really wanted to be there with Jensen, to bring their daughter home together. But, this was the next best thing. He’d be able to go home and Ava would be there with Jensen. 

 


	7. Tension and Misery

Jensen paced the kitchen, uncertain as to what to do. Should he just wait for Jared, despite his protests? Or should he just drive to the hospital and take Ava home? Ava. Home. Those two words reverberated in his mind. Without another thought, he climbed the stairs to Ava’s bedroom, grabbed the diaper bag and packed what he thought and hoped was everything he needed for Ava. He made his way back into the kitchen with the bag, grabbed his keys that he had left on the kitchen counter and went out to his car. The car seat with infant carrier had already been installed in his car. He and Jared had decided that his car would be the one they used for Ava in the beginning. He made a mental note to talk to Jared about getting a second car seat for their SUV as he placed the diaper bag next to the car seat before getting in and making the drive to the hospital. He drummed his fingers nervously against the steering wheel as he drove. He was going to get their daughter. She was coming home and they would be a family.

 

As Jensen parked, he heaved a sigh of relief. This would be it, the day he brought their daughter home. He prayed that nothing would keep Ava here again overnight. Since they hadn’t been contact by the hospital, he was assuming things were on schedule for Ava’s homecoming. He felt his nervous energy zinging through his body. He found himself bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited to step off the elevator and onto the maternity ward. He waved his wrist over the door scanner and listened as the lock clicked before grabbing the handle and opening it. He walked over to the nurse’s station and was greeted by an unfamiliar face. “Hi, can I help you?”

 

He smiled at the new nurse. “I’m Jensen Padalecki. I’m here to take my daughter, Ava home.” 

 

“Can I scan your bracelet?” The new female nurse asked.

 

“Of course.” He offered her his wrist as she produced a small scan gun. When she was done, he pulled his arm back and waited for her to allow him through to the nursery. 

 

“Everything’s in order,” she said with a smile. “So, you’re taking your little girl home today?”

 

“Yes, but I’d like to get her ready to go and also visit with Ms. Greene, if she’s still here and seeing visitors.” 

 

“I’ll see what can be worked out. Why don’t I take you to the nursery so you can get your little girl ready? Do you need any help with anything?” She asked as she came out from the nurse’s station. “I’m Jill, by the way. I’ve been taking care of Ava and Ms. Greene.”

 

“How are they?” He asked and chatted with the nurse during the short walk to the nursery. He found Ava awake and looking around the room in her crib, having just been fed and changed. “Hi baby girl,” he cooed to Ava as he picked her up. He held her close to his chest, breathing in her scent of formula and baby shampoo. He was surprised to smell that since he had thought the last thing they were supposed to go over before taking Ava home was bathing and the care of her umbilical sight. He turned and called Jill over to question her.

 

“Oh, there must have been some mistake. I bathed her right after her last bottle. I’m so sorry about that. But, I can go over the steps for bathing her and care for the umbilical sight. It’s very easy,” she offered with an apologetic smile. 

 

“No, it’s fine. We’ll manage,” he said as he started to rummage through the diaper bag for Ava’s clothing. He managed to change her diaper and dress her in a sleeper as she drifted off to sleep. He tucked her into the infant carrier along with a blanket before strapping her safely in to take her home. 

 

As he walked the hallway to the nurse’s station he was met by Jill. “Ms. Greene said it was fine to stop in for a visit.” He nodded to her as she walked past him, stopped at Jasmine’s room and knocked. 

 

“Come in,” Jasmine called from behind the closed door.

 

Jensen pushed it open and entered, carrying the diaper bag and Ava in her carrier. “We wanted to say goodbye and thank you for giving us Ava. I can’t tell you what you did means to us.”

 

Jasmine looked at Ava and then past Jensen toward the door. She didn’t see Jared, she gave a small frown. “Jared isn’t with you?” 

 

Jensen shook his head. “No, he had to go into the office, but he’ll be home later tonight. Do you know when you’re being released? Would you like me to box up your clothes and drop them off at your apartment? I bet you’ll be glad to get back to your normal life,” Jensen offered with a small smile. He knew that he would feel much better having Jasmine out of their lives, especially after her little stunt right before she went into labor. 

 

“I think later today, once the doctor checks me out, then I can go home. And that would be great. I don’t have a lot at your house.” 

 

A knock at the door stopped them from any further conversation. Jasmine called the person in to her room and Jensen turned to see who it was. He smiled as he saw Tina enter the room. “Well, look who’s beautiful and ready to go home,” Tina said a she eyed Ava. “I have some paperwork for you to sign. It should only take a few minutes. Then you and this little precious girl can go home. Why don’t you follow me to the office?” 

 

Jensen bent down to pick up Ava and the bag but was stopped by Jasmine. “You can leave her here,” Jasmine said, watching the look of concern pass over Jensen’s face. She watched as he started to protest. “It’s no trouble. This way, we can have a little girl time together before she goes home with you to Jared. You don’t mind if I give her one little snuggle, do you?” 

 

Jensen looked at Jasmine, saw the almost pleading look on her face and relented. He was sure he would be able to sign the paperwork and be back in a few minutes and it might just be easier to leave the sleeping baby where she was. What harm could come from Jasmine spending a few minutes watching Ava? “Sure, thanks. I’m sure Ava would love a snuggle from you. Just be careful, she just fell asleep.” He let go of the diaper bag strap and dropped his keys on top of the bag and followed Tina out of the room. 

 

As soon as the door to her room was closed, Jasmine kicked off the blanket and stripped herself of the robe she had been wearing to revealed that she was fully clothed. She slipped her feet into her shoes, grabbed Jensen’s keys, the diaper bag and the infant carrier and headed out of her room. She waved the security bracelet in front of the scanner and impatiently waited as the lock clicked and the door opened. She was out of the hospital and making her way to the parking lot in search of Jensen’s car before anyone on the maternity ward had even noticed that anything was wrong. She clicked the car key fob several times until she found Jensen’s car. She quickly placed Ava in the car seat, got into the driver’s seat and maneuvered the car out of the parking space. 

 

“Don’t worry sweetheart,” Jasmine said as she eyed the sleeping baby in the backseat. “We just need to make a quick stop, pick up a few things before we go to Daddy’s cabin. He’ll know to look for us there. Then, we’ll be a family,” she cooed as she drove to Jensen and Jared’s home.

 

Silently, she entered the house, leaving Ava in her carrier by the back door. She made the trek up the stairs to what had been her room to grab the few items she wanted and then into Ava’s room. She needed several items from there to hold them over until Jared came for them. She rummaged through the dresser, dropping clothing on the floor until she had everything she needed before leaving Ava’s room. She dragged her rolling suitcase down the stairs and back into the kitchen where Ava waited for her. She left the suitcase with Ava before going into the home office to retrieve the extra key to the cabin. She didn’t bother with being careful as she rummaged through the desk, scattering files and paperwork on and around the desk. As she passed the bookshelf, she grabbed the photo album that contained Jared and Jensen’s wedding photos. She found one of just Jensen and tore it to shreds. She felt the anger that had been building up in her begin to ebb away. “There, that’s better. When Jensen’s gone I can burn all of this shit,” she said as she turned off the light. With the extra set of keys in her hand, she returned to the kitchen. Seeing the bag from the hospital, she looked through it before adding it to the items she was taking. She rolled the suitcase and bag to Jensen’s car, tossed them into the trunk and went back to get Ava. She chatted to Ava about how easy it had been to take her from Jensen as she pulled out of the driveway.

 

“He never even figured it out, what your father and I mean to each other, how we’re meant to be together. That’s why Jared and I are so perfect for each other. Jared will know where we’ve gone. He’ll know how to find us and make us a family. Don’t you worry Ava,” she muttered as she began the drive to the cabin owned by Jared and Jensen. 

 

“Alright, Jensen. Here’s the last document you need to sign. This just enables the hospital to bill your insurance for Ava’s birth and Ms. Greene’s recovery.” She watched as Jensen signed the paper and slid it back to her. “Here you go,” she said as she handed him Ava’s paperwork. “You’re free to take your daughter home. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call us.” 

 

Jensen gave Tina a warm smile before leaving the office to get Ava so they could finally go home. He knocked and waited for Jasmine to allow him into her room. When she didn’t, he knocked again, a feeling of growing concerned gnawed at him. “Jasmine?” He called out, feeling panicked as no answer came from the room. He pushed open the door to find that the room was empty. “Jasmine?” He called out again. Maybe she was in the bathroom, but the door was open and he could see that it was empty. He felt his knees buckle and stopped himself from falling as he placed a hand against the wall. The room was empty. Jasmine was gone and so was Ava. He turned and rushed out into the hall.

 

“Has anyone seen Jasmine? Ms. Greene?” He shouted.

 

Tina was the first to make her way over to Jensen, seeing that he was panicked. “Jensen, what’s wrong?”

 

“Ava was with Jasmine. The room is empty. Jasmine and Ava are gone!” Jensen managed to get out as he tried to control his panicked breathing.

 

“That’s impossible. Maybe they just went for a little walk. Let’s check the waiting room. Maybe they’re in here,” she offered, trying to calm him.

 

Jensen followed her to find that the waiting room was empty. He watched as Tina ran to the nurse’s desk and called for her supervisor as Jill joined her.

 

“What’s wrong?” Jill inquired.

 

“Ava’s gone, that’s what’s wrong. Someone took my daughter!” 

 

“No, she’s with her mother, Jasmine,” Jill responded to Jensen’s panicked voice.

 

“Jasmine’s not her mother. She was a surrogate. She has no right to my daughter.” Jensen looked at the nurse in disbelief. How could she call Jasmine Ava’s mother? He and Jared were her parents.

 

Tina brought the nursing supervisor over to a distraught Jensen. She placed a hand on his back, rubbing circles in hopes of soothing him enough so that he could speak with Mrs. Ferris. “Jensen, this is our supervisor, Mrs. Ferris. I’ve explained the situation to her. She’s called security.”

 

“Mr. Padalecki, I can’t even begin imagine what you’re feeling right now. Can you give me the description of your car and where you parked? I’m going to have security check the area to see if your car is still there. Then we’ll go from there,” she said with a sad smile.

 

“I drive a 2015 black Impala. I was able to find a parking space in the second row near the main entrance,” he relayed in a shaky voice. He listened as Mrs. Ferris repeated the information to security who then went to check on the parking lot. He paced, waiting impatiently for word from security. The beep of Mrs. Ferris’ phone stopped him in his tracks. He watched the woman as she nodded at whatever was being said on the other end of her phone. Her eyes darted to him and then away. He knew what that meant. His car and Ava were gone. He felt the rush of air leave his lungs as if he’d been punched in the gut. His daughter, was gone! 

 

Ferris ended the call and turned to speak with Jensen. “Your car is gone. Security has contacted the police. They will be here shortly. I want you to stay here with Tina. The hospital has been put in lockdown while we search each room. I’m going to meet them and bring them to the security office. Then we’ll be back up to speak with you.” Ferris turned and left Tina to comfort Jensen as she went to the main desk to meet with the police. 

 

It felt like hours before Jensen was able to move as his mind wrapped itself around the news that Ava was gone. She was in the hands of some stranger. Jensen dug into his pocket to retrieve his phone. Within a moment’s time, he was dialing Jared’s cell phone. When his call went to voicemail he tried again. After the third attempt, he gave up and tried Jared’s office phone. His call was finally picked up on the fifth attempt.

 

“Jensen, I’m sorry. I’m trying to wrap things up . . .” The rest of his words were cut off as Jensen yelled into the phone. 

 

“Jared, she’s gone and she’s taken Ava with her. She has our child!” Jensen screamed into the phone. 

 

It took a minute for Jensen’s words to register before he responded. “What do you mean she’s gone? Call the police and don’t leave the hospital. I’m on my way.” He listened as Jensen quickly explained that the police were already there, searching for Ava. Jared slammed the phone down, pushed back from his desk and left his office. He looked at Miller who was approaching him. “I gave to go, family emergency!” He called over his shoulder as he pushed open the door to the stairwell, elevator be damned! 

 

“Wait, Jared, we have a client waiting . . .” Miller’s voice called after him. He didn’t stop to answer. He didn’t care if he lost the client’s case or his job. What mattered the most to him were Jensen and Ava. He made his way to the parking garage, got into his car and sped off to the hospital. He had just reached the maternity ward, after repeatedly explaining to security and at least two police officers who he was, when he noticed the buzz of activity on the floor. He saw Jensen speaking to two men. Jensen looked distraught, strung out like he was about to collapse. 

 

“Jensen,” Jared called and watched as the three men turned toward him. A security guard placed a hand on his chest, clearly not having been given the information of who he was or why he was there, trying to stop him from getting to Jensen. Great timing was the thought that ran through his mind. Where was the guard when their daughter was being kidnapped?

 

Jensen turned in the direction of the voice calling his name. He saw Jared and started to walk toward him, only to be stopped by one of the detectives he had been speaking with. “Jared!” Jensen looked at the detective with the salt and pepper beard, Morgan. “He’s my husband.” Morgan nodded and motioned for the guard to let Jared through.


	8. The Unknown

Jared hugged Jensen, trying to comfort his husband and give him strength to deal with this situation. “What happened?” He asked, more to the detectives then Jensen. He felt Jensen flinch at his words. He looked at Jensen, saw the look of despair on his face and felt the need to protect Jensen kick in at a higher level. He placed a hand on the small of Jensen’s back and rubbed at the spot, knowing this usually soothed his husband when he was stressed. 

 

“Why don’t we step inside the waiting room and talk?” The bearded detective suggested. 

 

Jared and Jensen followed the two detectives to a room a few doors down. Wearily, they both sat down, wait for the detectives to give them more information. Jared felt Jensen clinging to him. He placed an arm around Jensen’s shoulders and kissed the side of his face. 

 

“It’s my fault,” Jensen whispered as he turned to Jared. “It’s my fault and now this crazy bitch has our child.” 

 

Jared hugged Jensen tighter to his body and wiped at the tears that were slipping from his eyes. “No, this isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

 

Jensen took in a ragged breath before speaking again. “No, Jared, it’s my fault. I left Ava with Jasmine . . .” Jensen was cut off from any further explanation by one of the detectives.

 

The blond detective stepped forward and introduced himself and his partner. “I’m Detective Mark Pellegrino, This is Detective Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Call me Mark and you can call him JD. You’re Jared Padalecki, Jensen’s husband?” He took a breath before continuing, giving Jared time to respond to his question. 

 

“Yes, that’s right. What’s going on? Where’s Ava. Where’s Jasmine?” Jared demanded.

 

“We’ll get to that and any other questions you have.” Mark gave him a pained look. “Now, why don’t you start from the beginning while JD follows up on a few things?” He turned his attention to Jensen. “What do you mean this is your fault?” 

 

“I came to take Ava home. Before I left, I stopped to visit Jasmine, make sure she was alright after giving birth to our daughter.” Jensen explained.

 

“Excuse me? Our daughter?” Mark questioned, pointing to Jensen and Jared.

 

“Yes, Jensen in Ava’s biological father. Jasmine was our surrogate. We have legal documentation. She signed her rights away. She has no legal claim to our daughter. What are you doing to find our child?” Jared asked again, feeling his desperation rising. He should have seen this coming; he should have done more to protect his family. 

 

“We’re following up on any information we have. Right now, I need to get the story from you, what happened today,” Mark explained to Jared before turning back to Jensen. “Okay, go on, Jensen.”

 

“Jasmine asked if she could hold Ava. I didn’t think anything of it. She was our surrogate. I said yes, I didn’t see the harm in it. She knew she wasn’t Ava’s parent. She said she was fine with it; didn’t want to be a mother. The nurse came in and said I had some papers to sign so that our insurance would cover the cost of the delivery and also to get everything ready for me to take Ava home. I left my keys, infant carrier and the diaper bag in the room and followed the nurse to her office at the end of the hall. I wasn’t gone more than ten minutes, fifteen at the most. When I came back, they were gone, so were my keys and the diaper bag. It’s my fault. It’s my fault,” Jensen murmured, more to himself than Jared or the detectives. “If I hadn’t . . .”

 

Jared grabbed Jensen by the shoulders and turned Jensen to face him. “This is not your fault. I don’t blame you, so stop blaming yourself. If anyone is to blame it’s me. I should have seen how unstable she was.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” Pellegrino asked as he stepped forward. “Why would you say Ms. Greene is unstable?”

 

“She came on to me, she kissed me, even though I had repeatedly told her that I’m gay and married. She kept saying that she and I created the baby she was pregnant with, even after I told her that Jensen was the biological father. She tried to drive a wedge between Jensen and myself, tried to break up our marriage. She showed up at my office, caused a scene. I nearly lost my job. I just overlooked things because she was carrying our child. I shouldn’t have.” Jared slumped down into his chair feeling the exhaustion he had been fighting crash over him.

 

“How did Jasmine get past security? How was she able to take Ava off of the maternity ward without setting off the alarms? Both Jared and I have security bands showing that we’re Ava’s parents. You can’t get on or off this floor without them or one of the nurses letting you in or out.” Jensen went quiet. “Was one of the nurses involved?” He asked, feeling his anger rising. Had Jasmine had help in kidnapping their child? 

 

“We’ve spoken with the nursing staff. The nurse who took you to sign the paperwork is on the up and up. There’s no reason to think she was involved. But, the nurse who replaced her . . . It seems there was some confusion as to just who Ava’s biological parents are. Ms. Greene was very convincing in her story that she is Ava’s mother. The nurse is new and didn’t know that Ms. Greene was actually a surrogate. The nurse thought that Jasmine hadn’t been given the coinciding security bracelet that matched Ava’s.” Mark gave a deep sigh. “She’s taken full responsibility for her error and the hospital will deal with her accordingly.”

 

“She won’t lose her job over this, will she?” Jensen asked quietly, feeling his anger drain from his body. This had all been a mistake, one leading up to the abduction of their child. “Jared, we can’t let that happen. It was a mistake.” Even though they were living this nightmare, Jensen had lost his compassion for the nurse. She had been duped by a fantastic liar. They all had. Still, he set aside his heartache and worry over his missing daughter to worry about the nurse.

 

“Jensen, no one is going to lose their job. But, let’s focus on finding Ava.” Mark offered.

 

“Mark,” JD’s gravely voice interrupted the three. 

 

“Excuse me,” Mark said as he stepped away. 

 

Jensen and Jared sat holding each other as the detectives spoke in hushed voices before they returned to them.

 

“What is it?” Jensen asked, panic rising within himself as he saw the grim look on the detective’s faces.

 

“We searched Ms. Greene’s apartment and found a body . . .”

 

“Oh my God!” Jensen screamed cutting the detective off. His clutched Jared’s hand in a bone crushing grip. Their daughter. Ava. Was she gone? Had her life been taken before she even had a chance to live it? His arms already felt empty; he would never get to hold his child again. They had such precious little time with Ava and she was gone. This was worse than not having had a chance to be a father. He saw black spots before his eyes; he was sure he was about to lose consciousness. 

 

“Was it . . .” Jared felt his throat close up. He couldn’t get the words out. Was the body that of their daughter? Had Jasmine killed their little girl in a fit of jealous rage to get back at him for his rejection? How would they ever get past this? How would Jensen ever forgive him? Ave was Jensen’s own flesh and blood. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, his chest was tightening. Was this what it felt like to have a heart attack? 

 

“I’m sorry to alarm you. No, the body we found was that of an adult female. It appears that she’s been dead for nearly two months,” JD shot them a tight smile. 

 

“Two months? That’s when Jasmine came to stay with us. She was having problems with her roommate, or so she said.” Jensen offered after he was able to breathe again. “Could the body be her roommate?” He asked as he turned to Jared. “I offered to speak to her, Kacy. I think her roommate’s name is . . . was, Kacy.” Jensen felt his mouth go dry. Had Jasmine killed Kacy? “How . . . how was she killed?”

 

“We really can’t discuss any more details. This is an ongoing investigation. We’ll try to keep you informed. The only thing I can tell you is right now, this situation is being kept out of the press. It’s being billed as a hospital security drill. We don’t want the media involved, alerting Ms. Greene to the investigation. This might cause her to make a drastic decision.” He cleared his throat and then placed a hand on Jensen’s shoulder, offering the distraught man what comfort he could. “We’re going to need you to go home and get that contract between yourselves and Ms. Greene,” JD said with a heavy sigh. “It’s not that we don’t believe you, but we need to cover all the bases, especially where the safety of a child is concerned.”

 

“Oh course, whatever you need,” Jensen answered automatically. “Please, just bring our daughter home safely.” He looked at the detectives, eyes pleading for them to find their child and protect her from the danger she was in. 

 

“Can you think of anywhere she might go? Family, a boyfriend, girlfriend?” Mark asked as he looked over his notes.

 

“No, she wasn’t dating when she signed on to be a surrogate or while she was staying with us. She said she was an only child,” Jensen offered. He began to realize just how little he knew about the woman who had given birth to their child. 

 

Hearing that triggered something in Jared. “She told us her mother was never involved. I got the feeling that the mother abandoned the family. Other than that, she never really talked about her family,” Jared offered with a shrug

 

A cell phone rang in the waiting room, putting everyone one edge as each searched for their phone. “It’s mine.” Pellegrino held up his phone before answering it. “Yeah, got it,” he said as he ended the call and turned back to look at his partner and then to Jensen and Jared. “How much do you really know about Ms. Greene?”

 

Jensen let out a tired sigh as he shook his head. “Not much. Just what the agency told us, really. We didn’t want to get too personal with her. It would have made it harder for everyone when we went our separate ways. Why?” 

 

“What aren’t you telling us?” Jared demanded. 

 

“It seems that Greene isn’t Jasmine Greene’s real name. It’s Rollins. She apparently took the last name from her foster parents. It seems that she was implicated in the death of her father after her mother left. But, because she was a minor at the time, what evidence they had against her was never really followed up on.” Mark said as he wrote something down in his notebook.

 

Jensen looked between the detectives and Jared. He opened his mouth to speak but felt like he was at a loss for words. How had they gone from the happiest moment of their lives to a living nightmare? Finally, he was able to gather his thoughts and turned to Jared. “Jared, how come the agency didn’t know? Why are we just hearing about this now? I thought the agency did extensive background checks?” The thought that their child was in the hands of a lunatic nearly brought Jensen to his knees. Ava’s biological mother was a possible murderer. 

 

“How did you find out about it? Usually, those files are sealed.” Jared stated. 

 

Mark gave them a sly smile. “I may or may not have a friend who may or may not have access to these types of files.” 

 

“I don’t understand,” Jensen said quietly. “I thought the agency did an extensive background check on her. We,” he said as he waved a hand between himself and Jared, ”we had to endure them combing through our personal and professional lives as well as our financial stability. How did they miss this important detail?”

 

“Agencies like this one, do their very best to screen applicants. But, they don’t have the resources that we, as the police do,” JD offered, sensing the rising distress in Jensen. He turned to Jared. “Why don’t you take your husband home and gather the documents we requested. Maybe, once you’re away from here, you might think of something that didn’t come to mind earlier. It’s common not to be able to remember a tiny detail due to the stress you’re under. Here’s my card and Mark’s. Call me or Mark if you think of anything else.” JD saw that Jensen was about to protest. “If we find anything out that we can share with you, one of us will call you.”

 

Jared just nodded as he placed a protective arm around Jensen’s shoulder. “Come on, Jen. There’s nothing else we can do here.” He felt Jensen nod as Jensen sagged against his body. Jared stopped and turned back to the detectives. “Please, bring our daughter back to us, safely.” He wanted to add in alive, but he knew that he and Jensen would lose whatever hold they had on composure if those words were spoken. Together, they left the hospital and drove home in silence.

 

Jared pulled into their driveway, turned off his SUV and sat there in the darkness. He turned to Jensen, placed a hand behind Jensen’s head and drew him as close as he could in the limited space. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to get Ava back. We’re going to be a family.” He heard Jensen’s sharp intake of breath and knew he was crying. With his free hand, he wiped Jensen’s tears away. 

 

“This is my fault. I pushed us into this. I chose her. I left Ava with her. She took my car. I thought Ava was safe. I never thought . . .” Jensen tried to pull away from Jared, but was unable to move from Jared’s hold on him. “You . . . you can blame me, I already blame myself. If I had listened to you . . .”

 

“We wouldn’t have Ava.” Jared took a deep breath. “I don’t blame you. Hell, you’re even worried about the nurse losing her job while we’re going through this hell. I blame myself for not seeing what she was capable of. I blame the crazy bitch that has our daughter. I blame the hospital for allowing this to happen. But I need you to hear me, I don’t blame you.” He let go of Jensen in order to cover his face as he finally allowed himself to cry. Their daughter was out there somewhere and he hadn’t been able to protect her. He felt Jensen’s arms encircle him and he leaned into the comforting embrace. 

 

“So, we’re both idiots,” Jensen offered with a small chuckle and felt Jared laugh with him. He leaned in and pried Jared’s hands from his face and then kissed his tear stained cheek. “Come on, let’s get the paperwork that the detectives need.”


	9. The Struggle

“Yeah,” Jared said as he pulled the keys from the ignition and followed Jensen to the front door. He unlocked the door and swung it open and flipped on the entryway light. They made their way inside, shutting the door behind them. “I’m going to shower and then get the paperwork the detectives requested. Want to join me?” Jared gave Jensen a half-hearted smile. He knew they were both to keyed up to sleep, he was hoping a hot shower would alleviate some of the tension in his shoulders and possibly Jensen’s as well. 

 

Jensen only nodded and allowed Jared to lead him to their bedroom. He cast a glance at the closed door to Ava’s room. His heart ached just seeing it. He should be sitting in the rocking chair, signing a lullaby and rocking their daughter to sleep. It was a far cry from last night or even this morning when he had been in that room, happily cleaning it and making sure it was ready for their daughter’s homecoming. Now . . . now they were dealing with the unknowing and struggling with the possibility that they would never be able to bring Ava home, to watch her sleep in her bedroom, hear her as she woke in the middle of the night looking to be fed and changed. Those thoughts were crushing to him. 

 

Jared led the way into their bathroom, helping to strip Jensen and himself of their clothing. He turned the water on to heat up before testing it; making sure it was the right temperature before gently nudging Jensen under the water. He watched as Jensen just stood there, letting the water spray over him. Silently, Jared grabbed their shampoo and began to wash Jensen’s hair, rinsing the suds away while shielding Jensen’s eyes. He washed his own hair before grabbing the soap and washing their bodies. He could feel Jensen leaning into him, needing the comfort Jared offered. He needed to do this, comfort his husband. He felt so much guilt. This was his fault, he should have prevented this from happening. Had he been there with Jensen today and not in a meeting, Ava would be home. They would not be going through this . . . this Hell. That’s the only word he had for it, for what they were dealing with. He could only imagine what was going through Jensen’s mind. While Ava was his daughter, their daughter; Ava was truly Jensen’s. She was Jensen’s by not only love but biology. He had come to love Ava like she was his, loved her since the first moment he knew she was a living being in their surrogate’s womb. How could he not? That was another part of the man he had loved since their first meeting. They had to get Ava back, alive and safe. If they didn’t . . . he hated to consider the thought that they might not get Ava back. He didn’t think Jensen would survive that loss. And, without Jensen, then what was the point? But, he forced those thoughts to the back of his mind. He needed to be strong, for Jensen and Ava. 

 

He hugged Jensen close to his chest. He needed to feel Jensen, his warmth and his body against his own. There was nothing else but comfort in his embrace. He turned the water off and reached passed the shower curtain for the towels. He slung one low across his hips as he took the other and began to towel off Jensen’s hair and then his body. He pushed Jensen’s hands down as he tried to help. “I’m here. Let me,” he whispered as he turned Jensen around so he could dry his shoulders and back. He just needed to do anything he could to take away the pain he felt for not being there for his family. He needed to take care of Jensen.

 

Jensen allowed Jared to wash him and then dry him. He needed to shut off his mind. He needed to not think about things right now. Because, if he did, he’d lose his mind. If he hadn’t been in such a rush to bring Ava home, to go there alone, Ava would be in his arms. Now, she was at the mercy of a lunatic. He leaned into Jared’s arms. All he wanted to do was tell Jared how sorry he was. Even though Jared had said he didn’t blame him, it still felt like Jared blamed him. He knew he blamed himself. He wouldn’t fault Jared if Jared never forgave him for being so stupid, so careless with Ava’s safety. “I’m sorry,” he whisper. Even as he said the words he felt his chest tighten. He had been so stupid. He had wanted a child and now she was gone. He felt the tears pricking at his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he repeated softly.

 

At first Jared had nearly missed what Jensen had said. When he heard Jensen speaking again, he knew what he was saying. He pulled Jensen to him. He ran his hands down Jensen’s arms before lifting Jensen’s face up to meet his eyes. “I’m only going to say this one more time, then we’re going to get dressed and try to get some sleep. I don’t blame you. I’m the one who told you to go get Ava, to take her home. You had no way of knowing that Jasmine had conned that nurse into believing that she was Ava’s mother. I should have been with you. I should have seen what she was capable of. It’s not your fault, Jensen. It’s mine.” Jared looked away from Jensen. He couldn’t take the pain he saw in Jensen’s eyes, the same pain he felt as it burrowed its way into his heart. His emotions were getting the better of him. “I should have protected you and our daughter.” He shook his head, trying to clear away his own tears as he wiped away Jensen’s. “I love you,” he said quietly.

 

Jensen gave him a warm smile. Despite everything, they still had love in their hearts for each other, he took comfort in that. “I love you, too.” He felt Jared’s hands on his face, cupping his cheeks and then Jared’s lips pressed against his in a tender kiss, offering them both comfort.

 

Jared grabbed Jensen’s sleep pants from the back of the bathroom door and handed them to him as he slipped his own on. Jared stirred Jensen to the bed. “Lie down, try to get some sleep. I’m going to open our safe and get the paperwork out. I’m also going to leave a message for Walsh. Maybe he can help with any problems if they arise with the detectives.”

 

Jensen just nodded and climbed onto the bed. He felt bone tired. He laid his head against his pillow and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would come to him. He listened to Jared’s movements as he moved around their room, going into their closet where they had their safe. He forced himself up and off the bed. He padded quietly out of their room to Ava’s. He pushed open the door to the unused nursery and stood there, trying to understand the sight before him. The room was a mess; the dresser drawers had been left open and clothes had been tossed onto the floor.

 

“Jared,” Jensen uttered quietly at first before turning in the direction on the room. “Jared, she was here,” Jensen called out to Jared, turning back to look at the state of the room, trying to figure out what this could mean. He heard Jared running to him and turned toward him.

 

“Jensen?” Jared called as he approached. 

 

Jensen stepped back to allow Jared to see what he had been looking at. 

 

Jared came to a stop in the doorway of the nursery. He stared in disbelief at the state of the room. 

 

“She was here. She took things for Ava, which means she at least wants to care for her. Right?” Jensen asked. He could only hope that was what it meant; the fact that some of Ava’s clothing was missing.

 

Jared could hear the hope in his voice. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s check the rest of the house. Maybe we’ll find something,” Jared offered. The lawyer in him was yelling at him to call the detectives, but he didn’t care right now. He wanted their child back and hoped they’d find some clue that would help them with that. “Wait, don’t touch anything else. Let me get my phone so I can take pictures.” Jared ran back to their room, grabbed his phone and returned to Jensen.

 

They retreated to what had been Jasmine’s room to search. “Her things are gone, her clothes and her suitcase,” Jensen said as he looked in the closet. 

 

“Yeah, she left the maternity clothes, but took her other things,” Jared said as they left the room and went downstairs. “I’m going to look in our office,” he called over his shoulder as Jensen turned in the direction of the kitchen. He was joined shortly by Jensen. 

 

“She took the formula from the hospital and the bot . . .” He stopped speaking as he took in the state of their office. 

 

Jared turned to look at Jensen. The office had been trashed. “I need to put things back in order to see if anything is missing.” He took several pictures to preserve the crime scene as best he could. He knew before he even tried to tell Jensen not to touch anything that he had lost that battle judging by the look of determination on his husbands face. He moved a few things on the desk and found the shredded photo of Jensen. He swallowed several times before tossing the pieces in the trash. There was no way he was showing this to Jensen and adding to his husband’s already mounting anxiety.

 

Jensen nodded, dropped to his knees and began to gather up the tossed paperwork on the floor. “Jared, the extra key to the cabin in missing.” He looked up at Jared, holding the file up to show him where the key ed been taped to the folder was now an empty and mared space. “You don’t think she went there, do you?”

 

“I think she did. Remember when I wanted us to go away and you weren’t able to? She wanted me to bring her there.” 

 

Jensen stopped up, turned away from Jared and left the room. He heard Jared calling to him “Where are you going?” He stopped long enough to answer. “I’m getting dressed, then I’m going after that bitch and getting our child.” He took the stairs two at a time to get to their room. He was dressed in jeans and pulling on a t-shirt when Jared joined him. He didn’t wait for Jared to respond as he grabbed his socks and boots. He shoved his feet into them, then stood up to leave the room.

 

“Wait!” Jared called to him as he grabbed his own clothes to dress in. “Ready?” Jared asked as he stood up from putting his own boots on. He watched as Jensen turned and silently left their room. He followed him down the stairs and to their SUV. Jensen tossed him the keys before climbing into the passenger’s seat. He caught the keys and slid in behind the wheel, started the SUV and backed out of their driveway to start the drive to their cabin.

 

Jensen clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. He wanted to punch Jasmine, or at least punch something. He felt the tension coiling in his body, making him unable to sit still. He pulled out his phone and the card one of the detectives had given him. 

 

Jared glanced over at Jensen, his movement having caught Jared’s attention. “What are you doing?” Jared questioned as he turned his attention back to his driving, keeping them on the road and trying not to end up in a ditch.

 

“Calling the detectives. They should know,” he said as he dialed the number. He listened as the phone rang and the called was picked up on the fifth ring. Morgan’s gruff voice rang in his ear. “Detective Morgan, this is Jensen Padalecki. We think we know where Jasmine has taken Ava. We own a cabin at Lake Tahoe. It looks like Jasmine went through our house, she took her things, some of Ava’s clothing and things we got from the hospital. Jared took pictures of everything, just in case you need them. The extra key to the cabin is missing. We’re on our way there now.” He went silent as he listened to the detective. He made a few noncommittal sounds before giving the address for the cabin to the detective. “Yes, of course, we’ll wait for you,” Jensen responded before ending the call.

 

“What?” Jared asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road despite his curiosity. 

 

“Morgan said for us to hold back until they get there.” He gave a harsh laugh. “Like that’s gonna make a difference. If she’s there, I’m getting Ava away from her.” 

 

Jared opened his mouth to protest but only slammed it shut. How could he tell Jensen to wait, to not rush in, when he knew he was probably going to do the exact same thing? He forced his foot down on the gas pedal, feeling the SUV’s speed increase. He glanced at Jensen, saw the tense line of his body mimicking his own. He needed to get them to their cabin, like yesterday. 

 

They rode in tense silence the entire way to their cabin. Jensen drummed his fingers on his thighs, feeling the nervous energy coursing through his body. He really hoped they were right, that Jasmine had actually gone to their cabin with Ava. If she wasn’t there, he didn’t know what else they’d be able to handle. When he saw they were turning onto the road which led to their cabin, he sat forward, trying to see any sign of his car. As they came to their driveway Jared cut the headlights and engine, coasting their way to a silent stop. He was about to ask Jared what he was doing when he saw a light flick on in the cabin and noticed his car parked off to the right side of the driveway. 

 

He needed to move, even if it was just to pace in front of the SUV. “I can’t just sit here.” Jensen turned to look at Jared.

 

Jared reached up and turned off the interior light. “Get out quietly.” Jared kept his eyes on the cabin as he spoke. He opened his door and slid out, silently closing the door behind himself. He turned and watched as Jensen did the same and came around the front of the SUV to join him. 

 

“What should we do?” Jensen questioned, not taking his eyes off of the cabin. 

 

“We wait,” Jared said as he rocked back and forth on his feet. “We should wait for the police.” It went against everything he was feeling right now. He wanted to rush inside demand that Jasmine give him his and Jensen’s child. But something in his gut told him not to. 

 

Jensen pulled his gaze off of the cabin to look in disbelief at his husband. Jared wanted to wait? “What?” Jensen finally breathed out. Anything else he was about to say was lost as he heard an infant’s cry cut through the quiet night. Ava was all that went through his mind. He didn’t wait for Jared to say anything, to give his approval or to stop him. He turned and ran for the front door not stopping until he pushed it open and entered the cabin. Coming to a stop, he saw Ava laying in the middle of the bed. He started to walk toward her, but was stopped as he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt. An arm snaked around his throat and he felt something cold being pressed against his skin. He realized what it was, all too late. A knife. 

 

“Jensen,” Jared hissed out, trying to Jensen’s attention. He was rooted to his spot, rocked by disbelief as he watched Jensen tear off in the direction of the cabin’s front door. Only after Jensen had disappeared inside did Jared move. He followed Jensen inside, hoping he could diffuse whatever situation he was about to encounter.


	10. Survival of the Fittest

“Nice of you to join us,” Jasmine purred against his ear. 

 

“Jasmine, just give me Ava. Give me my daughter and we’ll forget this ever happened,” he said as he tried reasoning with her. 

 

“Don’t you mean Jared’s and my daughter?” She pressed the knife against the tender flesh of his throat and she heard Jensen’s breath hitch in his chest. “You’re not needed. You’ve interfered too much already. Once you’re gone, Jared will finally realize he loves me,” she whispered into his ear.

 

“Love you?” Jensen asked in disbelief. “Jared’s gay, he’s married to me, as in he’s not into women.” He knew he was pressing his luck but he could stop the words from spilling out of his mouth. “There’s no way he’d ever want you. Besides, Ava’s my biological child, not Jared’s.”

“I’m going to kill you, just like Kacy. She was always meddling in my business. The day I bashed her brains in, she was going to call you, tell you about who I really was, what I’ve done. I couldn’t risk that.” She hummed against his ear. “I got away with killing my father. He drove away my mother with his drinking and abuse. He had to pay. Like Kacy did for trying to interfere by trying to tell you about my past. Like you are with standing in the way of the life I’ve created with Jared. He’s mine, not yours,” she hissed into his ear.

 

Jared stood in the open doorway taking in the images before him; Jasmine with an arm around Jensen holding a knife to Jensen’s throat, Ava on the bed. He needed to find a way to get Jasmine to let go of Jensen without hurting him. “Jasmine, sweetheart what are you doing?” He stepped into the cabin, leaving the door open as he focused on Jensen and Jasmine. 

 

Jasmine turned to Jared, forcing Jensen to turn as well while still holding the knife to Jensen’s neck, their bodies blocking the bed where Ava lay, crying. “He has to go Jared. You see that, right? He’s just standing in the way of you and I being together. The only way to stop that, for us to be a family is for Jensen to die.”

 

Jensen felt his heart stutter at hearing her words. The woman was insane. He wanted to scream at her, make her see that she had it all wrong. There was no way that Jared would love her, that she, Jared and Ava would never be a family. His blood turned to ice in his veins when he heard Jared’s words.

 

“You saw through my ruse,” Jared said quietly. “You passed my test, my clever girl. You figured it all out, how Ava was never Jensen’s child. He was just a means to an end. Ava is ours.”

 

“I knew it! I knew it,” Jasmine chanted. “It was a test I needed to prove myself to you, prove my love for you and our daughter. Now, I just have to pass this final test.”

 

Jensen stiffened against Jasmine’s hold. How was any of this possible? Was he losing his mind? Was everyone going crazy at this moment? 

 

Jared’s mind swirled. How was he going to get them out of this? How was he going to protect Jensen from a woman with a butcher knife against his throat? Pacify her, his mind screamed. Buy Jensen some time.

 

Jared looked from Jensen’s terrified eyes to the blade against Jensen’s throat, then to Jasmine. “Sweetheart, you did all this for me? To show me how much you love me and how we belong together?” He watched as she shook her head yes. “How did I get so lucky?” He asked, smiling at her. “I need to prove myself to you. I can’t let you start our new life with Jensen’s blood on your hands. Let me take care of this.”

 

“How? How will you do it, prove your love?” Jasmine’s voice sounded ragged as she spoke and Jensen flinched hearing it.

 

“I want to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze the life out of him,” Jared countered with a dark smile. “I’ll finally be able to make him stop talking.” He inwardly winced at his words. He wanted to reassure Jensen that he wanted no such thing, that he was only saying these things to protect Jensen.

 

“Jared,” Jensen whispered and felt Jasmine dig the tip of the knife into his throat. He felt a jolt of pain as the knife nicked his skin. He fought the urge to pull away, knowing the knife would only be pressed harder against his neck.

 

Jared’s eyes snapped up to Jensen’s face. He curled his lips into a snarl. “Shut the fuck up!” Jared spat out at him. “You have a choice, Jensen. You can come to me, let me handle this my way, more humanly than you deserve, or I can let Jasmine handle it her way. Which, looks like it might get a little bloody, for you.”

 

“Please, Jared . . . I love you.” Jensen offered.

 

Jared looked at his watch. “The offer is only on the table for the next sixty seconds. What’s it going to be?”

 

“Please . . .”

 

“Tick tock, time’s running out.” Jared shot back at Jensen with a sneer.

 

“You . . .” Jensen drew in a deep breath. “You, Jared, I choose you.” It broke his heart to say those words, to have them mean something other than that he chose Jared to love. 

 

Jared nodded his head and motioned for Jensen to walk toward him. Jasmine stepped back, withdrawing the knife away from Jensen’s neck. Jared watched as Jensen took a few steps forward and noticed the thin line of blood trickling from the cut the knife tip had left against his pale skin. His eyes flicked up to Jensen’s face; he saw the terrified look in Jensen’s eyes and he just wanted to tell Jensen everything would be alright, that he would get Jensen and Ava to safety. 

 

Jared looked past Jensen to watch Jasmine. Once he had Jensen close to him, he could protect his husband and then get to their daughter. He just needed to get Jensen away from Jasmine, away from the knife she held in her hand. 

 

Jensen stopped only a few feet away from Jared to glance over his shoulder. He needed to make sure that Ava was still safe from Jasmine, that the crazy bitch wasn’t touching her. 

 

“Jensen,” Jared growled out. He needed to get Jensen’s attention. He reached out for Jensen, to pull him closer. He smiled at Jensen, trying to reassure him as he softened his voice to speak. “There’s no reason to be scared.”

 

Seeing the look Jared gave Jensen and hearing the tenderness in his voice as he spoke to Jensen set Jasmine off. She turned to look at Ava. Her first thought was to hurt the tiny being on the bed. But, no, the baby was innocent in all of this. Jared had lied. No, she would take from him what he loved the most, Jensen. She turned back toward Jared and saw Jensen standing there, his back to her and a few feet away from Jared. She raised the knife. “Liar!” Jasmine screamed as she focused her attention on Jensen; wanting to hurt him, needing to make him pay for Jared's deception. 

 

Jared saw Jasmine raise the knife, saw the murderous look she gave Jensen and knew what her intent was. She was going to stab Jensen, possibly kill him. “No!” He screamed, trying to draw Jasmine’s focus from Jensen and onto himself.

 

Jensen turned and watched, transfixed as Jasmine raised the knife and lurched at him. He heard her screaming and then Jared’s voice, heard him yelling. Other voices filled the cabin, before he was deafened by an unfamiliar sound. He felt hands on his body, pulling him away from Jasmine as she stopped in mid run. He watched as her eyes went round and her lips formed an ‘O’ in surprise. She dropped the knife and sank to the floor, blood pooling on her chest and the floor. Her lifeless eyes staring up at nothing. He felt hands running over his body.

 

“Jensen, oh my God, Jensen. Jensen, answer me!” Jared yelled frantically. Jared shook Jensen, trying to get his attention. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” He cupped Jensen’s face as he spoke. 

 

Jensen looked at Jared, confusion clouding his eyes at what had just happened. “Are you hurt?” A male voice spoke, cutting through the haze in his mind. He recognized the voice, the voice was Jared’s. He shook his head no. He watched as one of the detectives kicked away the knife before checking Jasmine’s vitals. “She’s dead,” Jensen heard someone say. She was dead. The nightmare was finally over. 

 

“I had to say those things. It was the only thing I could think of to do so she wouldn’t hurt you or 

Ava.” Jared said before crashing his lips over Jensen’s in a desperate kiss. He felt Jensen return the kiss as Jensen shook his head in understanding. “I would never have hurt you,” he said as he pulled back from Jensen.

 

Jensen gave Jared a tender smile. “I know.”

 

“You’re bleeding,” Jared said as he dropped a hand to the nicked flesh of Jensen’s throat, wiping away the blood so he could assess the damage, not that he was a medical professional, but he had to see for himself that Jensen was alright. The cut didn’t look deep and the blood was barely oozing out. He wiped his hand on his thigh before hugging Jensen tightly to his body “I thought I was going to lose you.” He felt the need to kiss Jensen again, to feel that Jensen was really there with him and that their nightmare was over. He leaned into Jensen’s body, pressed him close and kissed him again, this time it wasn’t as frantic as before. 

 

“You scared me,” Jensen finally got out after he was done kissing Jared. He needed that, to feel Jared’s arms around him, to taste Jared against his lips, to anchor himself.

 

“I’m sorry. I thought that if I could stall her, get you to come to me, I could protect you. Then get her away from Ava.”

 

“What the hell were you two thinking?” JD’s gravelly voice cut through the moment, crashing them back to reality of where they are and what had just happen. He looked at the two men huddled together and then over at Jasmine’s lifeless body. He had been the one to kick aside the knife; had noticed the blood on the tip of the knife. Someone had been cut, he thought to himself. “You were told not to approach Jasmine,” JD growled at them. “Which one of you was cut by the knife? I saw the blood on the tip,” JD commented as he stared at them, waiting for an answer.

 

The sound of crying stopped them from anything further. Jensen pulled away from Jared and was next to the bed where Ava had been left, crying out for her parents. “Hey, Ava, it’s Daddy. I’m here, hush. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve got you,” Jensen murmured as he leaned down to pick Ava up, cradling her tiny body to his chest. “Daddy’s here and so is Papa,” he reassured her and himself as he looked to Jared. 

 

Jared rose to his feet and made his way to his family. He put a protective arm around Jensen and pulled him down to sit on the bed. He could feel Jensen shaking as he held their daughter. “Hey, baby girl, you’re safe,” Jared whispered to Ava. They were safe and Jasmine was dead. The nightmare was finally over.


	11. Going Home

Jensen finally looked around the room. He saw Mark on the phone and watched as JD approached them. “She killed her roommate,” Jensen said quietly. “She said she bashed Kacy’s head in.”

 

JD nodded at Jensen’s words. “Let’s move you out of the way. Why don’t we grab some chairs and move to the other side of the cabin, away from this,” he said as he waved a hand at the pool of blood, Jasmine’s body and the knife that had been kicked away by him after Mark had shot Jasmine as she had tried to attack Jensen. Once Jensen and Jared were seated, JD addressed what Jensen had said. “Yeah, blunt force trauma to the head.” JD said matter-of-factly. “She was the last one seen with Kacy and the only one seen leaving the apartment the last time anyone saw Kacy alive. We’re thinking Jasmine posed as Kacy when Kacy allegedly called her boss to quit her job over the phone. Kacy, like Jasmine was a loner, no family to speak of, no real friends and once she quit her job, no one would have missed her. Jasmine was seen weekly, collecting the mail at their shared apartment. Most likely trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy. We’re thinking that’s when she’d go into the apartment and deal with Kacy’s body. The apartment was filled with deodorizers to mask the smell of the decay.” JD said as he looked over his notes. 

  
  


Detective Pellegrino joined his partner, Detective Morgan needing to confer with him before he turned and spoke to Jensen and Jared.

 

“You both were very lucky. This could have ended badly for you, for all of you,” Mark said solemnly. “There are reasons why we told you to wait, to not engage with Jasmine.” Mark looked at them. He held his hand up to stop their protests. “I get your desire to protect your daughter, but neither of you are trained to deal with situations like this. One or both of you could have been hurt, or killed. Jensen nearly was, wasn’t he?” Mark asked as he narrowed his eyes at Jared. He watched as Jared swallowed several times and then looked away. Mark grimaced at him before continuing on. “We’re going to need to look over your car, Jensen. I’ll ask the crime scene techs to go over it first, then they’ll move on to Ms. Rollin’s body. I’m sorry that we can’t cover the body up. We run the risk of contamination of evidence. Ava is back with you. An ambulance is almost here. She’ll need to be looked over, Jensen as well,” he said as he pointed to Jensen’s neck. Then most likely you’ll be able to go home. But, no more heroics.” Mark gave Jensen a tight smile before walking away to join in the investigation.

 

A few minutes later, the cabin was engulfed by more police, crime scene investigators, an EMT rolling in a gurney and a Paramedic. The Paramedic knelt down to assess Jasmine’s condition, shook his head and stood up. Both the EMT and Paramedic turned their attention to Jared, Jensen and Ava.

 

“Wait!” One of the crime scene techs called out. “I need to document his injury. I also need to get pictures of the baby and the other man,” the tech said as she walked over to them, camera in hand. Without warning, she began taking pictures of Jensen’s neck. He jumped at the sound of the camera, nearly hitting his head against the wall as he tried to move away from her. “Sorry,” she murmured. Thankfully, Ava never made a sound as pictures were taken of her. “Your turn,” she said as she turned to Jared. When she was done, she returned to the other side of the cabin to take pictures of the knife and Jasmine’s body.

 

“I need to look the baby over,” the paramedic said as he held his arms out for Jensen to place Ava in them. 

 

Jensen eyed the Paramedic suspiciously. At this point, he wasn’t willing to let any who wasn’t Jared or himself touch Ava, let alone take her from him. 

 

“It’s okay, Jensen. Let him do his job,” Jared said quietly. He knew what Jensen was feeling at that moment. Despite his own fear of someone else taking Ava, he knew it wouldn’t happen, not now and not ever if he had anything to do with it. 

 

Jensen nodded and placed Ava in the paramedic’s arms. “Why don’t you get the gurney so I can lay her down and give her a once over while her parents stand with her,” he said to the EMT. He smiled at Jensen as the EMT did as he was asked.  

 

The EMT pushed the gurney over along with their medical kits, stopping in front of Jared and Jensen. He placed them on the floor and went to examine Jensen’s throat. Jensen wanted to protest, there really wasn’t anything wrong with him, but kept quiet. He watched as the paramedic looked Ava over. He felt Jared’s hand clench his, letting him know he was still there for him. He gave a squeeze back in reassurance. 

 

“Can you tilt your head up for me?” The EMT asked. Jensen complied, letting the EMT’s gloved fingers move his chin back and forth. “The cut doesn’t look like it’s deep. It doesn’t need stitches and it doesn’t appear the artery or vessels have been punctured. I’m going to clean and bandage the wound. Then, you should be good to go,” the EMT offered with a smile.

 

“Thanks,” Jensen said, not really looking at the EMT crouching before him. 

 

“Hey, Brady, how’s the baby?” The EMT called over his shoulder. “I think these two are a little anxious to get her back.”

 

“Almost done, Alec,” the paramedic, Brady, answered back. “She’s in good health.” 

 

“See, she’s good. So are the two of you,” Alec said as he cleaned the cut before placing a bandage over the area. He stood up and moved over to Jared, seeing the blood stain on his jeans.

 

“I’m fine,” Jared said as he tried to wave off the EMT. Jared looked down at his leg, “It’s my husband’s blood,” he explained

 

“Let him do his job,” Jensen said, reminding Jared of his own words.

 

Jared chuckled and sat back, allowing the EMT to check him out. 

 

“You both seem to be fine. Once Brady’s done, you’re good to go,” Alec said with a smile.

 

“Here she is; ten toes and ten fingers, pink-skinned and probably a little hungry,” Brady said as he offered Ava back to Jensen. “She’s a beautiful little girl. Congratulations.” 

 

“Thank you,” Jensen said as he took Ava into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and watched as the paramedic and the EMT were cleared to leave the crime scene. He felt her squirm and then heard her give what sounded like a mournful cry. “What’s the matter Ava? Is he right, are you hungry?” Jensen turned to Jared. “Jasmine took the formula and bottles. Do you think they’ll give them back so I can at least feed her?” Jensen looked at Jared, not knowing what they were going to do if they couldn’t feed and change her. How would they get her home if the police decided to keep his car? 

 

Without a word, Jared stood up and walked over to the edge of the crime scene, trying to get JD or Mark’s attention. “Detective?” He called out. 

 

Mark turned toward the voice, saw Jared standing there and walked back over to him. “Here are the keys to Jensen’s car. We searched and the CSI tech has already photographed it. There’s no reason to impound it. We got everything we needed from it, which wasn’t much,” Mark said with a shrug. “There was nothing to find.”

 

“Jasmine took the diaper back, some of Ava’s things along with the formula and a few bottles the hospital gave us. Do you think we can get them back? She needs to be fed and changed,” Jared said as he looked over his shoulder at Jensen.

 

“Let me see. If they haven’t been opened, I don’t see why we can’t get Ava fed. Why don’t you give me a few minutes?” Marked walked over to one of the crime scene techs and exchanged a few words. A few minutes later, Mark returned with Ava’s clothing, diaper bag, bottles, formula and a bottle of water and handed them to Jared. “We’ve photographed everything,” Mark said as he handed Jared the items. “I just spoke my supervisor and I’ve been given permission to give these to you. Nothing was tampered with according to one of the techs and since they’re no longer needed for the investigation, you’re free to have them. The water may not be hot, but it’s better than nothing. I can’t let you near the kitchen or bathroom since your cabin is still an active crime scene, but hopefully you can at least make do with what you have.” He smiled at Ava and then looked Jared and Jensen over. “Once you’re done feeding and changing her, let me know. I’ll probably be able to send you on your way home by then.” He nodded at them and walked back over to speak to the tech examining Jasmine’s body. 

 

Jared sat back down with Jensen. He rummaged through the bags, pulling out the bottle and formula. He followed the directions on the formula can to make a bottle for Ava. “You want to feed her?” He asked, knowing already what Jensen’s answer would be. To his surprise, Jensen shook his head no and handed Ava to him. He gladly accepted his daughter and offered her the bottle as he settled her into his arms. He watched as she hungrily latched onto the nipple and began to suck down the formula. He felt a tap on his arm and looked up.

 

“You need to stop and try to burp her so she won’t have air in her belly,” Jensen said.

 

He nodded at Jensen’s words and pulled the bottle away from Ava. She gave a little protest as she rooted for the nipple before he lifted her to his shoulder and gently began to rub and pat her back until she gave a small burp. Jared then lowered her back into his arms to finish feeding her. He repeated his earlier efforts and was rewarded with another small burp. “I think she’s good,” he said as he looked at Jensen. “Maybe I should change her and then see if we can get the hell out of here?” Jared offered as he knelt on the floor with Ava to change her. When he was done, he handed her to Jensen. 

 

“Yeah, I would like to go home,” Jensen responded as he watched Jasmine’s body being placed into a body bag and carried out. He gave a shudder and then hugged his arms around his body before taking his daughter.

 

“I’ll see if we can leave,” Jared said. He caught the eye of JD who walked over to join them. 

 

“What can I do for you?” JD questioned.

 

“We’d like to leave.” Jared stated as he glanced over his shoulder to check on his family.

 

JD looked over Jared’s shoulder. “Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem. I know you went through things at your home, took pictures. We’ll need those. Also we had the crime scene techs there already. They removed everything pertaining to Ms. Rollins.” He pulled out his business card holder and pulled out a card and offered it to Jared. “Here’s a card for a guy I know. He’s great at crime scene cleanup,” JD said as he offered Jared a business card.

 

Jared took the card and looked at it. “I think we might sell this place after it’s cleaned,” he said sadly. He loved their cabin. It had such happy memories for them both, but now . . . 

 

“No,” Jensen responded. Both Jared and JD turned to look at him. “No,” he repeated again as he shook his head. “I’m not letting her have any more of a claim to our lives. We’ll have the place cleaned, burn everything in here if we have too, but I’m not selling this place,” he said with determination. “This is where we started our life together, we got married here. I’m not letting her take that from us.” He turned an intense gaze at Jared, almost daring him to defy his words.

 

Jared looked at Jensen, saw the determination in his eyes and shrugged. “Well, I guess my husband has a point,” he said sheepishly to JD. “Thanks for the card and the recommendation. We’ll give him a call,” Jared said as he lifted the diaper back onto his shoulder and grabbed the bag with the bottles and formula he had packed into it. He turned and followed Jensen out of their cabin to their car and SUV. 

 

“I’ll make sure the place is locked up after we’re finished here. Make sure you forward those photos,” JD called after them. 

 

Jared followed Jensen to his car and watched as Jensen placed a sleeping Ava into her car seat. He placed the bags on the seat next to her, leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. He straightened up and turned to Jensen. He noticed the tears in Jensen’s eyes. “Hey, what are the tears for?” He asked, letting the concern he felt ebb into his voice. 

 

Jensen cleared his throat before speaking. “Happy tears. Ava’s safe and we’re going home,” he said as he wiped at the tears on his cheeks. Jensen turned away, only to be stopped by Jared. He looked up into Jared’s hazel eyes and saw Jared’s eyes were filled with tears as well.

 

“You don’t have to hide your tears or your happiness.” Jared couldn’t hide his own right now even if he wanted to. He felt overwhelmed by them. He pulled Jensen to him, nuzzled against his neck - the side that didn’t have the cut- and placed a soft kiss at his pulse point. “We have our little girl and each other. What do you say to going home and starting this chapter of our life?”

 

“I say let’s get going,” Jensen said as he reached up and wiped away the tears staining Jared’s cheeks. He pulled Jared down for a parting kiss, needing to feel his husband’s lips and love before they got in their own vehicles to start their drive home. He pulled away before things became heated between them. “I’ll see you at home,” Jensen said as he ran one of his hands through Jared’s hair. 

 

“Yeah,” Jared nodded in agreement, but didn’t let go of Jensen. “You know I love you, that there was never a moment when I didn’t want you or our marriage. I would never not want to be with you or take Ava from you. It’s important that you know that.” Jared stopped, feeling his throat closing as he tried to get the words out that he needed to say. “I would never have hurt you. I only said what I said so I could get you away from her. I needed to protect you and Ava. I was hoping that once I got you to walk to me, then I could have gotten her to give me the knife. Then . . .”

 

Jensen crashed his lips against Jared’s stopping him from speaking further. “I know that . . . At first I thought . . .” Jensen shrugged his shoulders, not knowing how to end his sentence as his mind raced with his thoughts. “At first I thought that,” he gave Jared a sad smile. “I didn’t know what to think. My heart broke when you said those things.” He saw the look of pain that crossed Jared’s face and placed a hand over Jared’s heart, hoping to soothe away the pain. “But then when I looked at you, looked into your eyes, I saw your love for me.”

 

“I’m so sorry. Please believe me. Please forgive me.” He reached up and cupped Jensen’s face with his hands. He needed to hear that Jensen forgave him before he could ever begin to forgive himself for his words.

 

“I do believe you and forgive you, even though there’s no real reason for me to forgive you. You did what you felt you had to do to protect me and Ava. I love you Jared. I always will. Now, let’s put this behind us. Jasmine’s taken too much of our time. Let’s bring Ava home.” He kissed Jared and opened the driver’s side door, ready to get behind the wheel and take Ava to their home. 

 

Jared nodded and held the door open as Jensen slid in behind the wheel. Once Jensen was seat belted, he leaned down and kissed him. “Drive safely,” he said. He looked into the backseat and saw that Ava was asleep. She looked so innocent and blessedly unaware of what had gone on around her in less than forty-eight hours. Thankfully, she would never remember this brief period in her life. 

 

“Shut the door and get in the SUV so I can follow you home. That way you can see us and know we’re okay,” Jensen offered to Jared. He could see the nervousness in Jared’s eyes. 

 

“Okay” Jared breathed out as he shut the door. He jogged to his SUV, got in and started it up as Jensen start his Impala. He pulled out of the driveway, swerving around the police and emergency vehicles as he got onto the road. He watched as Jensen did the same. Once both vehicles were on the road, he put his right foot on the gas pedal and began the drive home, keeping Jensen’s vehicle in his rearview mirror the entire time. 

 

Wearily Jared carried everything from Jensen’s car into the house and left it by the front door as Jensen disappeared upstairs with Ava. After locking the house up, followed Jensen upstairs and found them huddled together in the middle of their king-size bed. “Hey,” he said quietly as he entered their room. He noticed that Jensen had managed to kick his shoes off, but was fully clothed.

 

Jensen looked up and smiled. “Hey yourself,” he said as he curled around Ava’s sleeping little body. “I couldn’t put her in her room, not after Jas - she went through everything and left the room a mess.” He gave Jared a sad smile, his eyes pleading with Jared to understand where he was coming from. To understand the fear in the pit of his stomach that if he left Ava in the nursery, he’d wake up to find that she was gone.

 

Jared raised his hand and ran it through his hair. “It’s fine. I get it. I was prepared for us to camp out in the nursery, but this is better.” He crossed to the bed and lowered himself onto it, not having enough energy to even undress. “Everything is by the front door, in case we need it in the middle of the night.” He rolled onto his side, placed an arm around Jensen and Ava and closed his eyes. He listened to the soft even breathing from Ava as he drifted off to sleep.

 

Jensen lay next to Jared, secure in his hold and having Ava cradled against his body. He leaned over and kissed the soft skin of Ava’s forehead. He breathed in the scent of her skin, mixed in with the familiar scent of Jared lying next to him. He closed his eyes and placed his head against his pillow. Home. They were a family and they were finally home was the last thought he had as he let sleep claim him. 


	12. Twelve Months Later

Epilogue

 

“But what if?” Jensen asked as he watched Ava playing in their backyard. She was teetering on chubby little legs as she chased a ball around being rolled by her two sets of grandparents. He could hear laughter and snippets of conversations going on through the open French doors.

 

“Ava, catch the ball,” Gerry, Jared’s father, called out.

 

“She’s adorable.” Sherri, Jared’s mother said as she turned away from Ava to say something to Gerry.

 

He and Jared had opted for a small family gathering at their home for Ava’s first birthday. He had been so happy when Jared’s parents, Sherri and Gerry and his own, Donna and Alan, had decided to make the trip from Texas to California to be with them for Ava’s first birthday. Jensen had fussed over their home, the yard and what to make for food. He had made Jared promise that Jared would take the Friday before the party off. He didn’t want anything interfering with Jared being there with them. Since that day when Ava had been taken, Jared had made it clear to his boss that his family came first. It still didn’t stop Miller from trying to get Jared to work longer hours and the weekends. But, they had both made a promise to each other that their family would always be top priority. If that meant that Jared cut back on cases or that Jensen didn’t take on another client when the catering event interfered with their schedule, they were both fine with it. They had survived on less before, they just couldn’t survive without each other or Ava.

 

Jared turned away from what he was doing, getting the cake that Jensen had baked and decorated that morning to look at Jensen. He gave Jensen a warm smile, filled with love and happiness. Seeing Jensen standing by the doors, encased by the sunlight, took his breath away. Jensen was still as heart-stopping for him now as he had been when he’d first seen Jensen standing behind the bakery counter nearly ten years ago. Had it actually been that long, he thought to himself. He was still in love with Jensen, maybe loved him even more now. They had come a long way from that chance meeting to now. “Jensen, with you as her biological father, any of  _ her _ DNA will be overwritten. You have a wonderfully open heart. She has us, two loving parents. She has more going for her than some kids. Ava has a chance.”

 

Jared smiled at Jensen. He had harbored the same fear at first that somehow Jasmine’s biology would result in Ava turning out like her biological mother. But, he was a firm believer of nurture over nature. They loved their little girl; that was all she needed to overcome whatever was mapped in her biology. Which for the record, Jared thought was total bullshit: that the idea of a person’s DNA would or could dictate how a person turned out, whether they would be good or evil.

 

“I just worry,” Jensen admitted with a cautious glance to Jared. He looked back to watch as Ava tottered and then fell on her butt. She clapped her hands together to get someone’s attention. “Oh, you precious thing . . .” Donna’s voice wafted through the door. He smiled as he watched his mother scoop Ava up and spin her around before handing her off to his father, Alan. His throat tightened at seeing that. They had nearly lost Ava, nearly lost everything they had ever held dear to them.

 

“Yeah, I do too. But, she’s got us, what could go wrong?” Jared tilted his head back and laughed as he watched Jensen’s features twist into a mask of horror. 

 

“Many things!” Jensen shot back at him with a laugh. “Many untold things. How about when you put her diaper on backwards?” Jensen snickered at the memory. Jared had tried so how to get Ava ready for bed one night while Jensen had been out on a catering job. He had come home to find a distraught Jared trying to figure out why the diaper didn’t fit right on Ava. He was on this third diaper and as many onesies when Jensen had walked in on the two of them. 

 

“We said we would never speak of that again!”

 

“Yeah, well . . .” Jensen dissolved into laughter as Jared pulled him against his chest. 

 

“Sure, laugh it up,” Jared shot back. Jared couldn’t help but join in the laughter. It had been pretty funny after he had calmed down. At the time, he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why the diapers hadn’t fit right or why Ava had gone through so many in such a short time. He was about to wrap her in paper towels and duct tape when Jensen had happened upon the two of them. Ava had been crying; not liking that she was wet and that her Papa couldn’t figure out what to do.

 

“Sorry,” Jensen managed to get out before he was struck with another fit of laughter at seeing Jared’s pouting lips and puppy dog eyes looking back at him. “I love you,” he said as he sobered up. 

 

“I love you, too,” Jared said as he pressed his lips to Jensen’s. “Come on, we have a birthday party to host. Something tells me that Ava will be wanting cake pretty soon.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right. Our parents are great, but they only have so much energy to give to a one year old who is always on the move,” Jensen responded as he placed the candle in the shape of a 1 in the middle of the cake. 

Jared picked up the cake as Jensen led the way outside to their waiting parents and a very excited birthday girl. Jared placed the cake on the patio table and lit the candle as Jensen took Ava from his father and settled her on his hip. 

 

“Happy birthday, baby girl,” Jensen murmured into the top of Ava’s head, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo that laced her soft blonde hair. Two little chubby hands grabbed his face. He looked down into green eyes, the same color as his, and smiled. In that instance, he realized he had everything he could ever want, their parents there with them, celebrating Ava’s birthday, Ava and Jared. His life was finally complete.

 

Jared stole a glance at his family, Jensen and Ava. He smiled as he watched Jensen bounce their daughter on his hip, singing Happy Birthday to her, a wide smile on his face, reaching his eyes. He had nearly lost everything he held dear to himself, Jensen, their marriage, their child, his job and his sanity. But, Jensen had been his rock in the aftermath of it all. Jensen had forced him back to work and forced him to deal with his boss. Luckily, Mr. Miller had been understanding once Jared had spoken with him, explaining what he and Jensen had gone through. Jensen had scaled back on his catering business, needing to be home with Ava. Jared understood that and gave Jensen the time he needed to get over the fear of losing Ava. He had worked through his own fear of whenever Jensen called that he was going to hear Jensen’s terrified voice repeating those heart-stopping words,  _ “Jared, she’s gone and she’s taken Ava with her. She has our child!” _ He would have to remind himself every time Jensen’s name flashed across his cell phone screen that Jasmine was dead. There was no way that she could hurt Jensen or take Ava ever again.

 

Jensen had been the one to stand his ground regarding their cabin. Three months after what they had started calling the ‘incident’, Jensen had planned a weekend away at their cabin. “We need to check it out after having it cleaned and refurnished,” Jensen had said to him. Jensen had been steadfast in his stance on not selling their cabin when the possibility had been brought up. “I told you that night, we weren’t selling, and we’re still not gonna sell it. It’s ours. I’m not letting her shadow fall on anything else in our lives,” Jensen had said. He had given in to what Jensen had wanted. They had both been nervous returning to the cabin with Ava. The first night had been difficult; they had both had nightmares that night. But, things had gotten better the next day and by the time their weekend had been over, they found that they really hadn’t wanted to leave. They found themselves returning as much as possible, replacing those horrible memories with happy news ones filled with laughter and love and Ava. He wouldn’t trade them for the world.

 

Jared moved to stand by Jensen as the singing died down. He placed an arm around Jensen’s waist, pulling him and Ava to him as they moved to blow out the candle. He heard their parents clapping and Ava yelling, “Dada, Papa” as she reached out for the cake. He tossed his head back and laughed as Jensen snagged a bit of the frosting and dotted Ava’s lips with the sugary confection. Jensen turned to him and smeared the last of the frosting on his lips. Jared licked the frosting off of his lips before turning and kissing Jensen. “I love you,” Jared murmured into Jensen’s ear. He was rewarded with a kiss from Jensen and hearing Jensen affirming his love for him. He never got tired of hearing Jensen tell him he loved him or kissing Jensen.

 

“Who wants cake?” Jensen called out as he handed Ava to Jared. 

 

Jared gladly took their child and cuddled her against his chest. He gave a happy and contented sigh as he watched Jensen interact with their parents. Jensen glanced over his shoulder and smiled at him. He saw the happiness he felt reflected in Jensen’s eyes. 

 

Every day was a new adventure in their lives. Jared never knew what he was waking up to on a daily basis. Was Ava running through their home naked, with Jensen chasing her, like she had taken to? Clothes had become the enemy - especially her diaper. It was a miracle that she was even still dressed right now. He chuckled at that thought. Yes, life was always throwing something at them, but he knew he could handle anything with Jensen and Ava by his side. They had been through hell and back and he finally had everything could have ever wanted. Had his family, Jensen and Ava and there was nothing else that he could ever want more out of life.


End file.
